^ 

^^3^ 

■c^^. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


.** 


4^Z<Sf 


1.0    ^^tii 

1.1   L'-iia 

=  "    llllim 

||l.25  ||U      1.6 

^ ^ —    6"     

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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporatioii 


33  WEST  MAIN  STRUT 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)872-4503 


4>^ 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVl/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Csnadian  inttitut*  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  canadien  de  microreproductions  historiquas 


<\ 


Tachnicai  and  Bibliographic  Notas/Notas  tachniquat  at  bibliographiquas 


Tha  Instituta  has  attamptad  to  obtain  tha  bast 
original  copy  availabia  for  filming.  Faaturas  of  this 
copy  which  may  ba  bibliographically  uniqua, 
which  may  altar  any  of  tha  imagas  in  tha 
raproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  changa 
tha  usual  mathod  of  filming,  ara  chackad  balow. 


□   Colourad  covars/ 
Couvartura  da  coulaur 


I      I   Covars  damagad/ 


D 


D 
D 
D 
D 

D 


Couvartura  andommagia 


Covars  rastorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Couvartura  rastaurte  at/ou  palliculte 


r~|    Covar  titia  missing/ 


La  titre  da  couvartura  manque 


I      I    Colourad  maps/ 


Cartas  giographiquas  nn  coulaur 


Colourad  init  {i.e.  othar  than  blua  or  black)/ 
Encre  da  coulaur  (i.a.  autra  qua  blaua  ou  noire) 


Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reli4  avac  d'autres  documents 


Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serrie  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intirieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajouties 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissant  dans  le  texte. 
mais,  lorsqua  cela  Atait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  fiimias. 


L'Institut  a  microfilm*  la  meilleur  exemplaira 
qu'il  lui  a  Ati  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  ey.amplaira  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique.  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite.  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mAthoda  normale  de  f ilmage 
sont  indiquts  ci-dessous. 


I     I   Coloured  pages/ 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagAes 


□    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurAas  et/ou  peliiculAes 

r~V  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
l±_I   Pages  d^coiories,  tachetdes  ou  piqudes 

□   Pages  detached/ 
Pages  ditachdes 

r~T/  Showthrough/ 
Lkj    Transparence 

□    Quality  of  print  varies/ 
Quality  inigale  de  I'impression 

□   Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  material  supplimantaira 


n 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


\Brt 


ages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuiilet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  M  fiimies  d  nouveau  de  fapon  jb 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


I     1/ Additional  comments:/ 

Lidf  Commentaires  supplimentaires: 


Irregular  pagination  :   [i]  -  xxiv,  17-512  p. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu*  ci-dessous. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

•^ 

12X 

16X 

20X 

UK 

28X 

32X 

Th«  copy  ftlmad  h«r«  has  b««n  r«produe«d  thanks 
to  ths  gsnorosity  of: 

York  University 
Toronto 
Scott  Library 

Ths  imagas  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  baat  quality 
possibia  considaring  tha  condition  and  iagibiiity 
of  tha  originai  copy  and  in  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Originai  copias  in  printad  papar  covara  ara  filmad 
beginning  with  tha  front  covar  and  anding  on 
tha  last  paga  with  a  printad  or  illustratad  impras- 
sion,  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copias  ara  filmad  beginning  on  tha 
first  paga  wKh  a  printad  or  illustratad  impraa- 
sion,  and  anding  on  tha  last  paga  with  a  printad 
or  illustratad  imprasslon. 


Tha  last  racordad  frama  on  aach  microficha 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  ^•^'  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  V  (meajiin^  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


L'exempiaira  fiimA  fut  reproduit  grice  i  la 
ginArosit*  da: 

York  University 
Toronto 
Scott  Library 

Lea  imagas  suh^antas  ont  AtA  raproduitas  avac  la 
plus  grand  soln,  compta  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattet*  de  I'exemplaire  film*,  et  en 
conformity  avac  las  conditions  du  contrat  da 
filmaga. 

Lea  exemplairas  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimte  sont  fiimAs  en  eommenpant 
par  la  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
darnlAre  paga  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  la  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  lee  autres  a^fempiairas 
originaux  sont  fiimte  en  commen^ant  par  la 
pramlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  darnlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  dee  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  la 
darnMre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  la  symbols  — ^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  comer,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  aa 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Lea  cartas,  planches,  tablaeux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
fllmto  A  dee  taux  da  rMuction  diff Arents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atra 
reproduit  en  un  seul  ciichA,  il  est  film*  A  partir 
da  i'angle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  an  bas,  an  prenant  le  nombre 
d'Images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammas  suivants 
illustrant  la  mAthoda. 


1 

2 

3 

i:   ■*^::: 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

f 

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'       i 


FRANK     FORESTER'S 


FISH  AND  FISHING 


OF  THE 


UNITED     STATES 


an:) 


RRITISH    PROVINCES    OF    NORTH    AMERICA. 


i*       \ 


ILLUSTRATED   FROM   NATURE. 


BY 


1, 

'iS. 


HENRY    AVILLI^M:    HERBERT, 

AUTHOR  or  FIIANK  FOKKSTEb'S    "IIORSE  AND  HORSEMANSHIP,'"    "FIELD   SPORTS,"    "TOE  COMPLETE 
MANUAL    FJB   YOUNCJ   SPOKTSMEK,"'  ETC. 


NEW  EDITION,  REVISED  AND  CORRECTED,  WITH  AN  AMPLE  SUPPLEMENT 
BY  THE  AUTHOR,  TOGETHER  WITH 

A    TREATISE    ON    FLY-FISHING, 

BY    "DINKS." 


\A 


NEW    YORK: 
'       185  9. 


*. 


Kntoretl  according  to  tint  Act  of  Conjtroitsi,  in  tlio  jonr  IS50, 

BY  W.  A.  TOWNSEND  &  COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  fortlio  Sontliern  District  of  Now  Yorl(. 


W 


^K 


C.    A.    A1.V.)RI).    FKINTKR.    NEW    VORK 


r;iV*i!j;.,»*:.-^j, 


To 


K  R  A  N  C  I  »      «  TJ  R  C>  K  'J'  ,      E  w  «i  ., 


or  KATCIIKZ,    MIS8lt4Sll>IM, 


THIS      WORK,      ON      T  II  K 


:|is(j   unb  ^is^tng   of   |lovt^    ^mciitn, 


(S  DKDU'ATEU, 


noTir    AS   TO    AN'   AKDKNT   AND   IKTSLLt(ilC.\T   NI'OHTSMAN, 
AMI   A   FIRM   FKIKM), 


IIY   Ills   FRIKND   AND  SERVANT, 


FRAN  K    V  0  U  K  S  T  E  IJ 


'.   i 


'  1 


TO  THE  PUBLIC. 


Thk  Publishers  have  the  pleasure  of  stating  that  the  prosont  re- 
vised edition  of  Frank  Forester's  "Fish  and  Fishing,"  contains  an 
entirely  new  treatise  on  "Fly-Fishing,"  prepared  by  "Dinks,"  and 
arranged  for  this  work  by  Mr.  Herbert  before  his  death,  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  subjoined  announcement.  They  have  to  express  their 
obligations  to  the  Messrs.  J.  &  J.  Oonroy,  for  providing  them  with 
the  finest  specimen  of  Flies  and  improved  Angling  Implements,  from 
which  the  illustrations  have  been  engraved ;  also  their  indebtedness  to 
Mr.  Francis  1*.  Allen,  for  aiding  the  artist  in  preparing  the  drawings. 


ANNOUNCEMENT. 


I  am  very  happy  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  add  to  the  new  edition 
of  ray  "  Fish  and  Fishing,"  the  following  admirable  and  most  entirely 
practical  treatise  on  every  thing  connected  with  the  science  of  tying 
and  the  science  of  using  the  artificial  fly,  by  my  friend  "Dinks,"  by 
whom  it  has  been  originally  prepared  for  this  edition,  and  who  is  well 
known  as  one  of  the  most  accomplished  and  thorough  prac'tical  fiy- 
fishers  in  this  country. 

For  the  favor,  I  return  him  my  sincere  and  earnest  thanks ;  and 

prognosticate  for  him,  from  our  readers,  general  and  most  enviable 

distinction. 

Henrt  William  Herbert. 

The  Cedars. 


ipiiaBMWI 


t  j 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


In  offurinjr  this  work  to  tho  public,  I  have  little  to  suy,  uh  its  chai-ac< 
ter  speaks  for  itself,  but  to  indicate  thp  sources  of  the  infortnution 
which  it  contains,  and  to  givo  credit  to  those  who,  by  their  works,  let- 
ters or  conversation,  have  aided  mo  in  its  execution. 

A  id  first,  I  must  express  my  sincere  gratitude  to  my  friend.  Pro- 
fessor Agassiz,  who  kindly  afforded  mo  every  assistance  in  liirf  power, 
with  free  access  to  his  fine  library,  and  unrivalled  collection  of  fishes, 
from  which  most  of  my  drawings  are  taken 

To  my  friend  Mr.  Perley,  of  St.  Johns,  I  am  indebted  for  much 
valuable  and  interesting  information  in  regard  to  the  fish  and  fisheries 
of  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia ;  and  to  Mr.  DeBlois,  of  Port- 
land, for  a  communication  respecting  the  great  Trout  of  Sebago  Lake, 
in  Maine,  which  was  probably  a  distinct  variety,  though  the  fact  can 
not  bo  easily  now  ascertained — the  noble  fish  being,  alas !  extinct. 

To  Mr.  Yarr'jl's  fine  work  on  British  Fishes,  to  Hofland's  Britisli 
AnglerV  Manual,  to  Richardson's  Fauna  Boreali  Americana,  to  Do- 
Kay's  Fishes  of  New  York,  to  Soyer's  Cooking  Book,  I  thankfully 
record  my  indebtedness  for  extracts  more  or  less  copious. 

All  tho  cuts  were  drawn  by  myself,  on  wood,  either  from  the  dead 
fishes  themselves,  or  from  original  drawings  in  the  possession  of  Pro- 
fessor Agassiz,  lent  to  me  for  this  purpose,  with  the  exception  of  the 
True  Salmon — which  is  copied  from  his  beautiful  work  on  the  Fresh- 
Water  Fishes  of  Europe — of  the  Arctic  Charr,  or  Masamacush,  and 
the  Arctic  Grayling — ^which  are  taken  from  Richardson's  Boreali  Ame- 


Viii  ADVERTISEMENT. 

lioana — of  the  Salmon  Trout — taken  from  Yarrol — and  of  the  Lake 
Trout  and  Pike  Pearch,  from  DeKay's  Fauna  of  the  State  of  New 

Vork. 
For  the  fidelity  and  excellence  of  the  engraving,  I  am  indebted  to 

Messrs.  Bobbett  &  Edmonds,  and  Brotherhead,  by  whom,  with  one  or 
two  trifling  exceptions,  all  the  cuts  have  been  executed. 

To  the  Messrs.  Conroy  I  have  to  record  obligation  for  preparations 
of  the  fine  specimens  of  various  Trout,  Luke  and  Salmon  Flies,  which 
are  engraved  in  this  work ;  and  I  take  this  opportunity  of  strongly  and 
cordially  recommending  them  to  all  my  friends  and  readi^rs,  as  deci- 
dedly, in  my  opinion,  the  best  rod  and  tackle  makers  in  the  United 
States. 


Anotiiku  edition  of  this  work  having  been  already  called  for,  I  have 
taken  the  opportunity  carefully  to  revise  it,  and  correct  the  unavoida- 
ble errors,  so  far  as  I  have  discovered  them,  which  must  occur  in  a 
book  treating  of  a  subject  so  comprehensive  as  mine. 

A  tour  through  the  north-western  lakes,  during  the  past  summer 
and  autumn,  has  given  me  opportunity  to  observe  the  habits  and  cha- 
racteristics of  many  fish  which  previously  I  had  known  only  by  report 
of  others — to  collect  information  relative  to  the  mode  of  taking  them 
— and,  hence,  to  verify  or  correct  opinions  heretofore  expressed. 

A  work  of  this  nature  must  necessarily  be  more  or  less  compiled,  as 
no  man  can  be  cxpocted  to  have  fished  in  every  State  of  the  Union, 
or  to  be  personally  acquainted  with  the  fishes  of  each  and  all.  To 
relate  personal  expariences,  whore  they  exist — to  collect  the  best  au- 
thorities, where  there  are  authorities ;  and  othorwise  to  be  silent,  rather 
than  give  charactor  to  vulgar  rumors — I  deem  the  writer's  duty. 

This,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  I  have  endeavored  to  do ;  and  I  can 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


U 


only  uiM,  that,  as  it  is  not  delightful  to  err,  I  shall  be  too  much  obliged 
to  those  who  will  kindly  convince  me  of  error,  and  enable  me  to  cor- 
rect it. 

In  addition  to  those,  my  obligations  to  whom  I  have  heretofore 
gratefully  recorded,  I  have  pleasure  in  referring  to  Mr.  King,  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina;  Messrs.  Mandeville  and  Cobleigh, 
of  Geneva;  and  Mr.  Gkegohy,  of  Adirondack,  N.  Y.,  for  information 
iind  specimens  from  various  parts  of  the  country. 

Several  kind  correspondents,  and  some  ingenious  critics,  have  poiui- 
cd  out  errors,  and  suggested  emendations,  of  which  I  have  thankfully 
Availed  myself. 

All  the  matter  thus  collected  will  be  found  embodied  in  a  copious 
Supplement  to  this  new  edition,  provided  with  a  separate  Index, 
under  the  head  of  the  fishes  to  which  it  relates ;  and  including  some 
authentic  information  relative  to  Southern  Fishing,  obtained  from  Mr. 
Kino. 

A  few  pages  on  Deep-sea  Fishing  will  also  be  found  in  the  Supple- 
ment ;  as  it  is  a  subject  to  which — myself  considering  it  very  inferior 
ns  a  sport — I  perhaps  gave  scarce  "  ver^e  enough  "  in  my  first  edi- 
tion. 

1  am  happy  once  again  to  express  my  gratitude  to  the  public  in 
general,  for  a  kind  reception  and  favorable  hearing ;  and  to  my  critics, 
on  the  whole,  for  kindness  and  candor. 

Their  Friend  and  Servant, 

Frank  Forester. 


•^-»<^*>it*aim>m^M,,^MMimi,. 


■«k*i«fci(«^(.v»liwwu 


// 


LIST    OF    EMBELLISHMENTS. 


I 


PAOK 

FRONTISPIECE— THE  MASCALONOE. 

OUTLINE  OF  LAKE  TROUT,          -           •          •          -          •          •           •          •  37 

HEAD  OF  THE  SILVER  TROUT,          .......  46 

GILL  COVERS  AND  DENTAL  SYSTEM  OF  TROOT,             ....  40 

THE  TRUE  SALMON, 64 

SALMON  PINKS, 54 

SALMON  SMOLT, 61 

THE  UROOK  TROUT, 66 

UROOK  TROUT  FRY, 86 

rilE  MACKINAW  SALMON, 104 

VARIETY  TRUITE  DE  GREVE, 101 

THE  SISKAWITZ, 112 

THE  LAKE  TROUT, 116 

THE  SALMON  TROUT, .  .  -120 

THE  MASAMACUSH, 120 

BACK'S  GRAYLING, •           •  131 

THE  AMERICAN  SMELT, 136 

THE  WHITE  FISH, -          -          •          •  141 

THE  OTSEGO  BASS, 145 

HEAD  OF  THE  NORTHERN  PICKEREL, 149 

HEAD  OF  THE  MASC ALONG  B,           ...*....  151 

THE  GREAT  NORTHERN  PICKEREL, 154 

THE  COMMON  PICKEREL, 167 

THE  LONG  ISLAND  PICKEREL, 161 

THE  COMMdP^ARP,                                        164 

THE  AMERICAN  ROACH, 170 

THE  NEW  YORK  SHINER, 72 

THE  AMERICAN  BREAM, j 

MINNOWS, IVO 

THE  HERRING, 178 

THE  SHAD, 180 

THE  CATFISH, 183 

THE  EEL 166 

THE  AMERICAN  YELLOW  PERCH, 187 

THE  STRIPED  SEA  BASS, 189 

THE  YELLOW  PIKE  PERCH, 192 

THE  BLACK  BASS,             ....                       ....  195 

THE  ROCK  BASS, 198 

THE  COMMON   POND-FISH, 200 


/ 


XII 


THE  COD, 

THE  AMERICAN  HADDOCK, 

THE  AMERICAN  WHITIXO, 

SAI.MON-FMES, 

TROIJTFUES,    - 


EMBELLISHMENTS. 


PAOB 

223 

8» 

253 


VIGNETTES. 


RUSTIC  BRIDGE, 

.         •      xxiv 

I'ALLS  OF  THE  MONTMORENCI, 

03 

MILL  AND  TROUT  STREAM, 

81V 

BROOK  TROUT,  -       •            •               • 

103 

RIVER  VIEW, 

no 

LAKE  INCAPAPCO - 

119 

TROLLING  UNDER  SAIL,     -           • 

123 

STRIKING  A  GRAYLING, 

135 

NETS  DRYING, 

148 

THE  FERRY, 

153 

GORGE  HOOK  AND  BAIT, 

156 

SKIFF  AND  WATER  FENCE, 

171 

TROUT-DAM,  LONG  ISLAND, 

173 

SILVER  LAKE, 

175 

AVATER  MILL,           ....... 

17T 

TROUT,  PERCH,  AND  BAIT  KETTLE,               .... 

179 

NETTING  FROM  BOATS 

184 

THE  EEL,       .               

186 

LITTLE  WHITE  BASS, 

191 

CLICK  REEL,      -           •           •      ^ 

194 

ROCK- BASS  FISHING 

199 

FOOT  BRIDGE  AND  TROUT  STREAM, 

201 

FISHING  BOATS, 

906 

A  MACKEREL  BREEZE, 

CREEL  AND  RODS. • 

209 

214 

SQUIDDING  UNDER  SAIL, 

219 

HAULING  THE  NET, 

221 

THE  COMMON  SALMON,               

252 

MAY  FLIES  AND  STONE  FLIES, 

273 

TROLLING  WITH  SCARLET  IBIS  FLY,             .... 

280 

THE  COMMON  PICKEREI>, 

2S9 

RIVER  PERCH, 

293 

THE  UPPER  DELAWARE, 

•    *         296 

NETS  AND  BUOYS, 

300 

RIVER  VIEW 

307 

FISHING  BOATS, 

311 

GOLDEN  PHEASANT,  WOODCOCK  WING,  AND  HACKLE,     - 

329 

BAIT  KETTLE, -           - 

331 

FINIS, 

35!/ 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


TAHG. 

I sTRODucTORY  Remarks 11 

The  Game  Fish  of  Nortli  America 17 

SaLMOSIDjE,  OR  THE  !r  ALMON  FaMIHl' 34 

The  True  Salmon 64 

The  Brook  Trout 86 

The  Greatest  Lake  Trout 104 

The  Siskawitz 112 

The  L.ku  Trout 116 

The  Sahnon  Trout 12(i 

The  Mastmiacush 126 

Back's  Grayiinjj                             131 

Thp  Americiin  Smelt 136 

TheCapelin 139 

The  Wlute-Fish 141 

The  Otsego  Bass 145 

EsociD^,  OR  Tiiii  Pike  Family 149 

The  Mascalonge 151 

The  Great  Northern  Pickerel 154 

The  Common  Pickerel 157 

The  Long  Island  Pickerel 161 

CYrRisiD.E,  on  THE  Carp  Family 164 

The  Common  Cr.rp 164 

The  Amerionn  Iloach    .        .        .    »    .        .        .        .        .        .170 

The  New  York  Shiner 172 

Tlie  American  Bream 174 

Minnows 176 

Cliipid;e,  OR  THE  Herring  Family 178 

Tlie  Herring         ...            .        .        i        ,        .        .  180 

The  Shad                      ISO 

SlLURID^,  0'\  THE  CaT-FiSH  FaIMLY 182 

The  Cat-Fish 182 

Anguillid^,  or  the  Eel  Family 185 

The  Eel 185 

Peiicid^,  or  the  Peauch  Family 187 

The  American  Yellow  Pearch 187 

The  Striped  Sea-Bass 189 

The  Yellow  Pike  Pearch       ....                        .        .  1  !12 


Xiv  CONTENTS. 

PAOI. 

The  Black  Buss .        .  195 

The  Growler 197 

The  Rock  Bass 198 

The  Common  Pond-Fish 200 

The  Lake  SheepVHead 2U2 

'  The  Mnlasheganay 203 

Shoal- Water  Fishes 204 

The  Sea  Bass 206 

*riio  Lafayette 207 

TheWeak-Fish 208 

TheKlng-Fish 209 

The  Silvery  Corvina .        .  211 

The  Branded  Corvinn             212 

The  Big  Drum  and  Banded  Drum 213 

The  Sheep's-Hond .215 

The  Big  Porgec 217 

The  Blue-Fish 218 

TheTautog 220 

Deep-Sea  Fishes             222 

The  Cod            222 

The  American  Haddoi-k 223 

The  American  Whiting 224 

Salmon  Fishlng 225 

The  Implements  of  Salmon  Fishing 239 

Trout  Fishing 263 

Lake  Trout  Fishing            274 

Salmon  Trout  Fisiung            277 

Pickerel  Fishing 281 

Pearch  Fishing 290 

Carp  Fishing 294 

Striped  Bass  Fishing 297 

Black  Bass  Fishing 301 

Eel  Fishp'g  and  Trimmers 308 

Shoal- Water  Sea  Fishing 310 

The  Weak-Fish 312 

The  Barb  or  King-Fish 313 

The  Sea  Bass        ....                316 

TheTautog       ....                                 ...  316 

The  Sheep's-Hoad         ...                 319 

The  Drum 320 

Deep-Sea  Fishing 322 

Blue-Fish  Fishing 320 

Appendix  A.             323 

Appendix  B 330 

Appendix  C     .        . 332 

t. 


CONTENTS    TO    SUPPLEMENT. 


/ 


/ 


PART    I . 

FAMC 

Introductory  Rkmarks 357 

The  Gamk  Fisiiks  of  America 35l> 

The  Salmon 361 

The  Hrook  Trout 365 

The  Greatest  Luke  Trout      ...                .        .        ,        ►       .  367 

Tlio  Siskawitz 369 

Tiie  Lake  Trout ...  371 

Tlie  Salmon  Trout .  377 

The  Salmon  of  the  rAcunc  Waters 379 

The  Quinuat      ...                 38.1 

Gairdner's  Salmon 386 

The  Weak-toothed  Salmon        .        .                388 

The  Plkewan 380 

The  Tsuppitch 391 

Clarke's  Salmon .....  392 

The  North-west  Capelin 394 

The  White  Fish 397 

Le  Sueur's  Herring  Salmon 398 

The  Lake  Huron  Herring  Salmon 400 

The  Pike  Tearcli 40.1 

Southern  Sea  Fishes 405 

p  A  R  T    1 1 . 

The  Fishing  op  North  America 407 

Salmon  Fishing .       .  409 

The  Rod  and  Tackle 409 

The  Casting-Line 411 

Trout-Fishing ....  413 

The  Rod 413 

The  Use  of  the  Rod       .        - 41G 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

I'AOK 

Op  TiioLLiNO  FOR  Lake  Tuout U8 

The  Rod       .        .        ; 418 

Tho  Reel .419 

Tho  Line 420 

Tho  Lender  mid  Train  of  Hooks 420 

Tho  Bait  and  Fliea 421 

Tlio  Bait  Kcttlo »21 

The  Boat  and  Oarsman,  or  Guide 421 

Tiie  Manner  of  Striking: 422 

Set  Lines  for  Lake  Fisliinpf ...  425 

AnTiFicui,  Fl»;s        .        • 420 

iSnlmon  and  Lake  Trout  Flies 434 

Lake  Trout  Flics 434 

Trout  Flies 435 

Se.\  Fishing:  ,      , 

Table  of  Depths,  Baits,  how  to  Strike  and  Kill 43 C 

Table  of  Tackle  and  Average  Weight 437 

Table  of  Spring,  Summer,  and  Autumn  Baits,  Times  of  Tide  and  Day        .  438 


// 


II 


CONTENTS 


or 


TREATISE     ON     FLY-FISHING. 


PAOB 

Fly-Fisliing 441 

Different  Habits  of  Fish 441 

Articles  for  Fly-Tying ,442 

Fishing  Case 443 

Book  for  Feathers 444 

Variety  of  Feathers  requisite 445 

Hooks 446 

The  Kendal,  Limerick,  O'Shaughnossey,  and  Carlisle  Hooks     .       .       .  44G 

Gut 446 

Tying-Silks •       .  447 

A  Vice  to  hold  the  Hook  while  Dressing • .        .  447 

How  to  dress  a  Fly  ....               ......  447 

Plate  of  Diagrams  and  Explanation        . 448,  450 

Examples  of  the  Process .  452 

Palmers 45:^ 

Example  No.  HI 453 

Lines,  Receipt  for  preparing 455 

Reels 450 

Rods 457 

Length  of  Rod 458 

Landing-Net  Hoop 460 

Fish-Basket 461 

Salmon-Bag 461 

Example  for  a  Salmon-Fly  Book ,  462 

Example  for  a  Trout-Fly  Book 463 

Trout-Flies 463 

Palmers •       .        .  467 

Receipts ....  468 

2 


Xviii  OONTKNTS. 

PAOI 

Flies,  continued            460 

Sea-Trout  Flies         .        .        • 410 

Salmon-Flies 470 

Handling  the  Rod 478 

Trout-Fishing 480 

Throwing  the  Line 482 

Haunts  of  Solmoii 484  * 

Trolling 486 

Implements  for  Trolling 487 

Natural  Bait 490 

Natural  Bait  Tackle 491 

Bottom-Fishing 492 

NOTE  BY  THE  EDITOR. 

American  Tackle 495 

Rods. 496 

Lines   .        - 496 

Reels 496 

Hocks 497 

Miscellaneous ....  497 

Floats,  etc. 497 


!  ) 


I 


f     . 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS. 


'V^^^^^Nr«^^^^V^»V^^N^^^^^«# 


To  DEAL  with  a  subject  so  wide  as  the  Fish  and  Fishing  ot  au 
extent  of  country  greater  than  the  whole  of  Europe,  stretching  ahiiost 
from  the  Arctic  circle  to  the  Tropics,  from  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic 
to  thosa  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  may  seem,  and  indeed  is,  in  some 
respects,  a  bold  and  presumptuous  undertaking.  It  were  so  altogether, 
did  I  pretend  to  enter  into  the  natural  history  of  all,  or  even  of  one- 
hundredth  part,  of  the  fish  peculiar  to  this  continent  and  its  adjacent 
seas. 

Such,  however,  is  by  no  means  my  aim  or  intention.  I  write  for 
the  sportsman,  and  it  is  therefore  with  the  sporting-fish  only  that  I 
propose  to  deal ;  as,  in  a  recent  work  on  the  Field  Sports  of  the  same 
regions,  it  was  with  the  game  animals  only  that  I  had  to  do.  In  the 
prefatory  observations  of  that  work,  I  endeavored  to  make  myself 
understood  as  to  what  constitutes  game,  in  my  humble  opinion,  as 
regards  animals  of  fur  and  feather.  I  did  not,  it  is  true,  expect,  or 
even  hope,  to  suit  the  views  and  notions  of  everybody,  particularly 
when  I  looked  to  the  great  variety  of  soils,  regions,  and  climates,  for 
the  inhabitants  of  which  I  was  writing ;  and  to  the  extreme  latitude 
and  laxity  of  ideas  concerning  sportsmanship  which  prevail  in  this 
country. 

One  would  suppose  it  was  sufficiently  evident,  that  a  work  of  the 


n 


INTROnUCTORY    REMAMRS. 


maguitudo  of  tho  Univorsal  Enoyclopaodia,  and  iiotbiDg  abort  of  that, 
vrould  BuiBoe  to  givo  an  oluborato  essay  aud  disquisition  on  every  sepa- 
rate sort  of  sport,  which  every  separate  individual,  of  every  separate 
State  in  the  Union,  may  think  proper  to  practice  for  his  own  pleasure 
or  profit 

1  therefore  determined  to  confine  myself,  in  the  first  place,  to  those 
sports  only  which  are  truly  Field  Sports  in  the  highest  acceptation 
of  the  term,  and  which  are  established  as  such  by  the  consent  of 
genuine  sportsmen.  i. 

In  the  second  place,  I  restricted  myself  to  those  sports  which  arc 
purely  and  peculiarly  American,  and  which,  as  such,  are  not  treated  of 
at  all,  or,  if  at  all,  undorstandingly,  by  European  writers. 

The  natural  history,  the  generic  distinctions,  the  migrations,  habits, 
haunts,  seasons,  and  the  mode  of  pursuing  and  taking,  in  the  most 
artistieal  and  sportsmanlike  manner,  of  such  animals  as  are  peculiar 
to  this  continent,  which  have  never  been  a  subject  of  investigation  to 
the  sporting  naturalist,  seemed  to  me  to  afibrd  a  topic  interesting  and 
agreeable  to  the  writer,  and  not  devoid  of  some  pretension  toward 
entertaining,  and  perhaps  instructing,  the  general  reader. 

At  the  same  time,  neither  pretending  nor  hoping  to  make  Mfy  work 
ftrftct^  I  thought  proper  to  exercise  my  own  judgment  in  deciding 
what  species  of  sports  are  to  be  regarded  as  Field  Sports  at  all,  what 
as  American  Field  Sports,  and  what  as  requiring  description,  analysis, 
or  explanation.    -       ...  .     ,  .  i,    . 

Some  men  consider  the  shooting  of  migratory  thrushes,  and  golden- 
winged  woodpeckers — ^which  it  pleases  them  to  call  robins  and  high- 
holders — OS  well  OS  small  song-birds  in  general,  as  a  field  sport ;  1 
do  not. 

Many  men — I  might  say,  of  the  rural  parts  of  the  Eastern  and  Middle 
States,  -moil  men — consider  squirrels,  raccoons,  opossums,  ground-hogs, 


fNTRODUCTORY    RKMARKR. 


XXI 


and  0uoh  liko  vermin,  as  being  guino  ;  I  do  not.    Tkorofore  I  dealt  not 
with  any  of  thofle,  nor  apologiHo  for  not  dealing'  with  them. 

Again.  Fox-hunting  on  hornoback,  in  a  weU-feneed,  arable,  or 
pasture  country,  is  the  finest  of  all  field  sports,  beyond  a  questioti. 
But  the  facts,  that  one  pack  of  foxhounds  is  now  kept  at  Montreal, 
that  another  was  kept  a  few  years  since  by  the  members  of  the  liritish 
legation  at  Washington,  and  that  a  few  planters,  in  two  or  three 
Southern  States,  amuse  themselves  occasionally  and  irregularly  by 
fox-hunting,  do  not  constitute  fox-hunting  an  American  field  sport ; 
which  it  is  not ;  as  is  demonstrated  by  the  undeniable  fact,  that  there 
are  not  above  three  States  out  of  thirty,  more  or  loss,  in  which  the 
fox  is  pursued  as  anything  but  vermin. 

There  arc,  moreover,  many  reasons  which  render  it  almost  impossible 
that  fox-hunting  ever  shall  become  an  American  field  sport.  In  the 
Northern  and  Eastern  States,  where  only,  as  a  general  rule,  the  coun- 
try is  sufiiciently  cleared  of  timber  to  allow  of  this  pursuit  in  perfec- 
tion, the  severity  of  the  winter,  and  the  jealousy  of  farmers  in  regard 
to  trespass  on  their  lands,  and  the  breaking  of  their  fences,  combim 
to  render  it  impracticable.  In  the  Southern  States,  the  woodland 
character  of  the  country,  and  the  frequency  of  swamps,  bayous,  and 
similar  obstacles,  destroy  all  its  poculiar  excellences,  and  detract  infi- 
nitely from  its  excitement,  and  its  scientific  character. 

Yet  once  more.  Had  fox-hunting  been,  what  it  is  not,  an  American 
field  sport,  I  should  still  have  dismissed  it  in  a  few  pages.  Because, 
being  a  sport  thoroughly  understood,  and  carried  to  the  utmost  perfec- 
tion in  the  Old  World ;  a  sport,  so  far  as  it  is  one  here  at  all,  per- 
fectly identical  on  the  two  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and  as  such,  having 
no  peculiarities,  and  requiring  no  new  precepts  here ;  and,  above  all, 
being  a  sport  on  which  more  able  and  excellent  treatises  have  been 
wiitten  than  on  any  other  in  the  whole  range  of  sporting  subjects,  and 


• 


XMI 


INTRODUCTORY    REMARKS 


that  by  such  men  as  Beckford  and  Nimrod — names  as  familiar  oh 
household  words  to  all  who  can  sit  a  horse,  or  halloo  to  a  hound — it 
would  have  been  an  act,  if  not  of  impertinenco,  at  least  of  total 
supererogation,  to  fill  up  the  pages  of  a  work  devoted  to  a  new  class 
cf  subjects,  with  trite  remarks  on  an  old  one,  or  with  quotations  from 
books  within  the  reach  of  every  sportsman.  ^ 

^  All  this  which  I  have  here  set  down  in  relation  to  my  work  on  Field 
Sports,  and  to  some  strictures  which  have  been  made  upon  it,  is  simply 
explanatory  of  my  intentions  with  regard  to  this  work.       .. 

These  are  to  furnish  what  information  I  can  in  relation  to  the  classes, 
migrations,  habits,  breeding  seasons,  and  the  modes  of  taking,  of  those 
which  I  call  and  consider  sporting  or  game  fishes ;  to  insist  on  the 
generic  distinctions,  and  the  true  names  and  definitions  of  the  various 
species  and  families ;  to  show  briefly  how  the  various  families  and 
classes  may  be  distinguished  one  from  the  other,  thereby  enabling 
sportsmen  to  avoid  the  constant  errors  and  blunders  into  which  they 
are  now  falling  in  the  confusion  of  distinct  varieties  and  orders ;  and 
putting  it  in  their  power,  by  the  accurate  observance,  and  correct 
recording,  of  a  few  simple  signs,  to  render  invaluable  service  to  the 
cause  of  science,  in  one  of  the  most  important,  and  the  least  under- 
stood of  its  branches 

And,  before  1  proceed  farther,  I  shall  beg  gentlemen  from  remote 
sections  of  the  North,  East,  West  and  South,  not  to  wax  wrathful  and 
patriotically  indignant,  nor  to  reclaim  fiercely  against  the  author  of  this 
work,  because  they  fail  to  find  therein  described  some  singular  local 
mode  of  capturing  some  singular  specimen  of  the  piscine  race  known 
in  their  own  districts,  and  there  regarded  as  a  sporting-fish,  but 
unknown  as  such  to  the  world  at  large. 

Some  gentlemen  doubtless  regard  bobbing  for  eels,  and  bait-fishing 
through  holes  cut  in  the  ice — others,  hauling  up  sharks  with  ox-chains 


\ 


INTRODUCTORY    REMARKS. 


XMll 


and  tcntcr-hooks — and  others  yet,  harpooning  garpikes,  as  excellent 
fnport,  and  as  scientific  fishing,  as  many  more  will  probably  deem  of 
hauling  the  seine,  or  fishing  with  the  set-line,  or  the  deep-sea  line. 
None  of  these  things  come  under  my  ideas  of  fair  or  sporting  fishing ; 
and  the  gentlemen  who  admire  these  and  similar  practices,  I  beg  leave 
to  prcraonish  that  they  will  be  surely  disappointed  if  they  peruse  the 
pages  of  this  work.  By  omitting  to  do  so,  therefore,  they  will  spare 
themselves  a  displeasure,  and  the  author  an  animadversion. 

Fresh-watcr-fishing  especially  is  its  subject.  Lakes,  estuaries,  rivers, 
brooks,  its  scene ;  and  the  Salmon,  in  all  its  varieties,  the  Pike,  the  Bass, 
and  the  Pcarch,  the  fish  with  which  it  will  principally  deal.  All  game 
AmIi  will,  however,  find  a  place  in  its  pages ;  all  those,  I  mean,  which 
can  be,  and  usually  are,  taken  with  the  rod  and  reel ;  nor  will  a  few 
pages  bo  denied  to  deep-sea  fishing ;  and  to  the  consideration  of  some 
of  the  finny  tribe  which  visit  our  rivers  and  shores,  and  which,  from 
various  causes,  such  as  peculiarity  of  habit,  singularity  of  structure, 
excellence  on  the  tabic,  or  the  like,  may  appear  worthy  of  a  passing 
notice,  although  not  coming  strictly  within  the  sportsman's  category  of 
game  fishes. 

'  All  the  'nodes  of  rod-fishing  will  be  treated  of  in  their  places  ;  but 
fly-fishing,  spinning  with  the  live,  and  trolling  with  the  dead  bait,  more 
especially  will  be  discussed ;  as,  for  my  own  part,  I  regard  these  as 
the  only  true  and  sportsmanlike  modes  of  operation.  Bottom-fishing, 
ground-baiting  with  the  float  and  sinker,  and  the  like,  are  doubtless  all 
very  well  in  their  way  ;  and  will  perhaps,  in  many  instances,  even  with 
sporting  fishes,  be  found  the  most  killing,  as  they  are  clearly  the 
easiest  methods  ;  while,  with  other  varieties,  they  are  the  only  modes 
that  can  be  adopted ;  still  they  are  to  fly-fishing,  or  spinning  the 
minnow,  what  shooting  sitting  is  to  shooting  on  the  wing ;  and  the 
flsher  who  is  proud  of  lugging  out  of  their  native  element  twenty  trout 


— «-«s«\«. 


XXIV 


INTRODVCTORT    REMARK& 


by  main  force,  aided  by  a  lob-worm  or  roe-bait,  stands  ip  the  same 
relation  to  him  who  baskets  his  three  or  four  brace  with  the  artificial 
fly  and  single-gut  artbtically  cast,  as  the  gunner  who  pot-hunts  his 
bagful  of  birds,  treeing  his  ruffed  grouse,  and  butchering  his  quail  in 
their  huddles  on  the  ground,  does  to  the  crack  shot,  who  stops  his  cock 
in  a  blind  brake,  with  the  eye  of  faith  and  the  finger  of  instinct,  or 
(;uts  down  his  wild-fowl,  skating  before  the  wind  at  the  rate  of  a  mile 
a  minute,  dttiibetately  rapid  and  unerring.    . 


.-■&i 


FRANK  FORESTER'S 


FISH  AND   FISHING. 


THE  GAME  FISH  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


It  is  with  fishing  as  a  sport,  not  as  a  source  of  national  wealth  or 
individual  epicureanism,  that  I  have  to  do ;  therefore  it  is  of  game  or 
sporting  fishes  only  that  I  propose  to  treat. 

Again,  it  is  true  that  no  sportsman  captures  that,  which,  captured,  is 
worthless  ;  and  that  to  be  game,  whether  bird,  beast,  or  fish,  is  to  be 
eatable.    Therefore  it  is  of  eatable*  fishes  alone  that  I  propose  to  treat. 

By  game  fish,  I  understand  those  which,  being  eatable,  will  take  the 
natural  or  artificial  bait  with  sufficient  avidity,  and  which  when  hooked 
have  sufficient  vigor,  courage  and  velocity  to  offer  such  resistance,  and 
give  such  difficulty  to  the  captor,  as  to  render  the  pursuit  exciting. 

By  these  qualities  of  the  fish,  corresponding  qualities  of  the  fisher- 
man are  called  forth,  and  the  greater  the  wariness  of  the  fish  before 
taking  the  hook,  compelling  the  use  of  the  most  delicate  tackle,  the 
greater  his  fury  and  activity  when  struck,  requiring  the  nicest  skill, 
temper  and  judgment,  the  higher  does  he  stand  on  the  list ;  and  by 

NoTB  TO  Rkvised  Edition. — It  will  be  readily  seen  that  the  phraseology  of  this 
page  is  altered  in  this  edition.  It  is  so,  not  that  I  have  taken  any  new  ground,  but 
because  it  appears  my  language  was  not  so  definite  as  to  enable  all  persons  to  under- 
stand what  that  ground  is.  I  certainly  supposed  it  unnecessary  to  state  so  self-evi- 
dent a  fact  as  that  game  is  eatable. 

*  Hence  my  non-mention  of  that  very  curious  fish,  the  Garpike  or  Alligator  Gar, 
Esox  Osseus.  He  is  no  more  game  than  the  Shark  or  Dog-Fish,  both  of  which 
men  catch  for  fun. 


-«~t-»''w<L*..Vw 


• 


18 


THE  GAME  FISH  OF  ^NORTH  AMERICA. 


theso  qualities,  not  by  the  comparative  value  of  his  flesh,  is  his  rani 
decided. 

For  though  of  all  field  sports  the  motive*  and  origin  is  to  kill  for 
the  table,  and  not  to  kill  for  the  sake  of  killing,  still  the  sport  to  be 
derived  from  them  lies  in  the  excitement  of  pursuit,  and  difficulty  of 
capture — not  in  the  number  or  value  of  the  game. 

Wanton  butchery  of  useless  brutes,  and  greedy  pot-hunting  are  the 
Scylla  and  Charybdis,  between  which  the  true  sportsman,  and  he  only, 
steers  intermediate. 

It  is  the  wariness,  the  subtlety  and  the  caution  of  the  Salmon,  ren- 
dering it  necessary  to  use  materials  of  the  slenderest  and  most  delicate 
nature,  and  to  apply  them  with  the  utmost  nicety,  which  makes  the 
triumph  over  him  so  far  more  enthralling  to  the  real  fisherman  than 
that  over  the  Pickerel  or  Mascalonge  of  equal  weight,  whose  greater 
voracity  and  inferior  intellect  permits  the  use  of  a  gimp  hook-length, 
and  a  silken  or  flaxen  line,  instead  of  the  fine  gut,  tinctured  to  the  very 
color  of  the  water,  and  the  casting-line  of  almost  invisible  minuteness. 

The  same  is  the  superiority  of  rod  and  reel-fishing  to  the  use  of  the 
hand-line,  virhether  in  trolling  or  in  deep-sea  fishing ;  because  in  both 
theso  the  sport  is  at  an  end,  so  soon  as  the  fish  is  hooked ;  it  being  a 
mere  question  of  brute  strength  whether  the  victim  shall  be  conquered 
or  not,  when  once  fast  at  the  end  of  a  line  capable  of  pulling  in  a  year- 
ling bullock. 

On  the  contrary,  it  is  not  the  wariness  and  cunning,  but  the  vigor, 
the  speed,  the  fierce  courage  and  determined  obstinacy  of  the  true 
Salmon,  the  Brook  Trout,  when  of  fine  size  and  well-fed,  the  various 
kinds  of  larger  Pike  or  Pickerel,  the  Bass,  and  some  others,  which 
gives  such  a  zest  to  their  capture,  as  compared  with  the  smaller  and 
duller  fish  which  may  be  pulled  out  as  fast  as  a  hook  can  be  baited  and 
thrown  in;  or  the  lai-gcr  and  more  torpid  fish,  such  as  the  Lake  Trout, 
the  Carp,  and  the  Pearches,  some  of  which,  aftor  a  single  boring 
plunge,  resign  themselves  almost  without  a  struggle,  and  are  mastered 
with  no  resistance  save  that  occasioned  by  their  own  dead  weight, 

I  have  said,  above,  that  it  is  upon  these  qualities  of  boldness  and 


"■9 


Note  to  Revised  Edition. — The  killing  of  dangerous  carnivora,  as  a  matter  of 
defence,  is  not  here  considered,  because  in  this  country,  as  in  Europe,  the  practice 
Bud  the  necessity  have  long  passed  away. 


/■ 


THE  GAME  FISH  OF  NORTH   AMERICA. 


19 


fierceness,  combined  with  waiinass  in  biting,  and  of  vigor  and  determi- 
nation in  resistance,  apart  from  any  intrinsic  value  of  the  fish,  or  ex- 
cellence of  his  flesh,  that  his  rank  for  gamonoss  must  depend. 

It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  all  those  fish  which  are  the  most 
game,  the  boldest,  the  strongest,  the  bravest,  and  the  most  obstinate, 
are  invariably  the  finest  also  for  culinary  purposes,  and  the  most  highly 
appreciated  by  the  gourmet  on  the  board,  as  well  as  by  the  fisherman 
in  the  river  or  the  mere. 

With  very  few  exceptions,  the  Game  Fish  are  those  which  do  not 
confine  themselves  cither  to  salt  or  fresh  water,  throughout  the  year, 
but  visit  the  one  or  the  other,  as  their  habits  and  tastes,  but  princi- 
pally the  propagation  of  their  species,  direct  them.  These  migratory 
fish  are,  without  any  exception,  the  strongest,  the  boldest,  and,  as 
such,  afford  the  best  sport  of  their  tribe ;  nor  are  they,  for  the  most 
part,  to  be  surpassed  by  any  in  excellence,  firmness,  and  flavor,  wheu 
in  their  best  condition. 

Those  fish  which  never  visit  the  salt  water  at  all,  are  unquestion- 
ably so  much  inferior  to  others  of  their  own  family  which  run  periodi- 
cally to  the  soa,  that  they  are  with  difficulty  recognized  as  belonging 
to  the  same  order  with  their  roving  brethren ;  while  of  those,  none  of 
which  are  known  to  leave  the  fresh-water,  but  two  or  three  kinds, are 
worth  taking  at  all ;  and  even  these  are  not  to  be  compared  with  the 
migratory,  or  the  pure  sea-fish. 

All  excellence  is,  of  course,  in  some  degree  comparative,  and  I  am 
well  aware  that  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  where  sea-fish  are 
unknown,  and  where  the  culinary  science  is  merely  in  a  rudimental 
state,  many  fish  are  deemed  excellent,  and  are  .-iought  out  as  dainties, 
simply  because  they  are  bettor  than  the  ordinary  tenants  of  the  same 
waters;  while  in  any  place,  where  they  could  bo  considered  in  regard 
to  the  commonest  sea-fish,  they  would  be  entirely  disregarded,  and 
sold,  if  at  all,  as  among  the  cheapest  and  most  worthless  articles  of 
human  food. 

In  the  same  way,  many  species  of  game,  both  of  fur  and  feather,  are 
highly  regarded  in  districts  where  markets  arc  rare,  and  well-fed  and 
t3nder  butchers'  moat  unknown ;  and  in  such  places  you  will  find  many 
tasteless  and  inferior  birds  and  animals  nighly  valued,  which  in  cities, 
whore  a  variety  of  flesh  and  fowl  is  daily  to  be  procured,  where  poultry 


80 


THE  GAME  FISH  OF  NORTH   AMERICA 


and  butchers'  meat  can  always  be  had,  both  fat  and  tender,  no  person 
of  ordinary  taste  or  judgment  in  the  art  of  eating,  would  allow  to 
come  upon  his  table. 

These  few  observations  I  premise  in  this  place,  because  I  foresee 
distinctly  that  my  remarks  will  be  animadverted  upon,  more  or  less 
severely,  by  the  inhabitants  of  those  districts  in  which  the  varieties  of 
fish  which  I  regard  as  almost  worthless  prevail ;  the  same  thing  having 
occurred  with  regard  to  my  work  on  Field  Spoits,  concerning  which 
gentlemen  have  waxed  unwisely  indignant  as  regards  this  or  that  bird, 
or  this  or  that  mode  of  cooking  it,  when  they  have  plainly  lacked  the 
means  of  drawing  the  requisite  comparison. 

But  to  proceed :  the  Game  Fish  of  this  country  may  be  divided, 
first,  into  two  general  classes  of  fresh  and  salt-water  fishes ;  and  these 
may  be  again  sub-divided,  each,  into  other  two,  the  fresh  as  migratory 
and  non-migratory;  the  salt,  as  into  deep-sea  and  shoal-water; 
although,  perhaps,  to  speak  with  perfect  precision  on  the  subject,  no 
decp-soa  fish  should  be  called  a  Game  Fish.  Very  many  persons  ai-e, 
however,  greatly  addicted  to  the  sport  of  making  excursions  from  our 
larger  cities  to  the  various  sea-banks,  for  the  purpose,  it  is  true,  of 
enjoying  the  sea  breeze  and  the  excitement  of  the  sail,  combined  with 
the  attractions  of  the  chowder,  or  the  clam-bake,  the  champagne  and 
the  cotillion,  which  are  wont  to  complete  the  day's  amusement,  but 
still  with  the  object  of  fishing  likewise ;  and  these  persons,  even  if 
their  sport  be  not  of  the  loftiest  or  most  sporting  character,  will  rea- 
sonably expect  to  find  some  account  of  a  favorite  pursuit. 

Nor,  in  very  truth — though  I  eschew  large  congregations  of  huma- 
nity for  sporting  purposes,  deeming  them  rather  social  and  convivial 
in  their  true  character,  and  holding  sociality  and  conviviality,  though 
excellent  things  in  their  way,  as  utterly  averse  to  the  spirit  of  sports- 
manship— have  I  not  found  it  good  sport,  at  times,  to  sally  out  from 
some  sequestered  fishing  hamlet,  in  the  trim  schooner  or  more  humble 
yawl,  and  try  my  fortune  with  the  Cod,  the  Haddock,  and  the  Halibut ; 
or  if,  perchance,  on  the  rocky  shores  of  Eastern  New  England,  with 
the  delicate  and  lively  Whiting,  too  little  known,  as  yet,  to  the  epi- 
cures of  iUerica,  although  unsurpassed  in  excellence  by  few,  if  any, 
of  his  r:  .  With  deep-sea  fishing  I  shall  deal,  therefore,  although 
briefly,  ai.  becomes  its  rank  in  proportion  with  the  more  exciting  and 


THE  GAME  FISH  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


31 


ecientifio  branches  of  the  piscatory  art ;  nor  will  the  shoal-water,  or 
bay  and  estuary  fishing,  as  they  are  practised  on  our  coasts,  be  denied 
so  manj  pages,  as  will  appear  proportionate  to  the  number  or  excel- 
Itinoo  of  the  species  taken  in  that  sport.  Many  of  these  are  delicious 
fish  on  the  table ;  but  the  sport  of  taking  them  consists,  principally, 
in  the  frequency  of  their  biting ;  and  the  skill  requisite  for  their  cap- 
ture lies  mainly  in  the  knowing  the  most  favorable  bottom-grounds, 
the  state  of  the  tides  and  eddies  most  propitious  to  success,  and  the 
most  killing  baits  at  various  seasons. 

In  throwing  out  and  drawing  in  the  bait,  there  is,  comparatively 
spoaking,  small  science ;  and  taking  the  fish  when  once  hooked,  little 
skill  and  small  judgment ;  temper,  and  a  moderate  degree  of  patience, 
alone  seem  needful. 

It  is  not,  indeed,  to  be  denied  that  in  this,  as  in  all  other  ground- 
bait  and  bottom-fishing,  an  old  experienced  angler  shall  take  many 
times  more  fish  than  the  tyro  sitting  alongside  of  him  in  the  same 
boat,  and  working  with  apparatus  precisely  similar,  and  baits  identical. 

This  is,  however,  to  be  attributed  much  to  practice,  and  habit — much 
to  watchful  observation  of  minutiae,  such  as  the  fouUing  of  the  line, 
the  correct  depth  of  the  plummet  or  sinker,  and  such  like — and  more 
to  delicacy  of  hand  in  feeling,  appreciating  and  humoring  the  victim, 
when  coquetting  and  nibbling  about  the  bait.  It  cannot  be  likened 
to  the  skill  exerted  in  casting  and  managing  the  fly,  or  the  spinning- 
minnow;  much  less  to  the  playing,  killing  and  basketing  the  heaviest 
kind  of  fish  with  the  lightest  running  tackle. 

It  must  be  acquired  by  habit  and  prac  ice,  if  it  be  thought  worth 
the  trouble  of  acquisition,  but  it  can  scarcely  be  taught  at  all  by 
instruction  or  example ;  and  written  precepts  to  this  end  would  be 
altogether  worthless,  as  they  would  be  dull  and  unamusing. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  the  enumeration  of  the  Game  Fishes  of  the 
United  States  and  British  Provinces  of  North  America,  according  to 
my  understanding  of  their  game  qualities — regarding  them,  first,  under 
their  great  divisions  of  fresh  and  salt-water  fish ;  then  as  migratoi-y  or 
non-migratory,  and  deep-sea  or  shoal-water. 

And  here  I  shall  observe  that  I  adopt  these  grand  divisions  as  para- 
mount to  the  natural  distinctions  of  genera,  families,  and  the  like,  as 
I  conceive  that  such  a  treatment  of  my  subject  will  be  most  condu- 


22 


THE  GAME  FISH  OF  NORTH  AMERICA 


cive  to  the  pleasuvo  and  advantago  of  sportsmen,  for  whoso  benefit  1 
especially  writa ;  while  the  naturalist  will  find  that,  subject  to  these 
divisions,  he  will  recognise  all  his  old  acquaintances,  and  perhaps 
encounter  some  new  ones,  under  the  generic  and  specific  divisions  and 
definitions  to  which  he  has  been  accustomed.  All  the  Game  Fish  of 
this  country  belong  to  a  few  well-marked  families ;  and  with  the  sole 
exception  of  a  few  deep-sea  fish,  are  included  in  two  large  classes 
abdominal  Malacopterygii,  and  AcantAopterygii ;  the  first  class  being 
those  which  have  all  the  fin-rays  soft  and  flexible ;  and  the  second, 
those  which  have  a  part  of  the  fin-rays  hard  and  spiny,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  Pearch  and  the  Bass,  besides  some  others. 

The  deep-sea  fish,  to  which  I  have  alluded  as  coming  under  a  third 
class,  axe  the  sub-brachial  MaJacopterygii,  which  have  a  different 
arrangement  of  the  fins,  although  they  have  the  soft  and  flexible  fin- 
rays  in  lieu  of  spines,  as  in  the  first  class  named.  To  this  class  belong 
the  Cod,  Haddock,  Whiting,  and  such  other  of  the  deep-sea  fish, 
especially  Fiat-Fish,  as  can,  by  any  extension  of  the  term,  be  allowed 
to  figure  as  Game  Fish ;  for,  under  this  head,  I  cannot  by  any  means 
include  the  Ray,  the  Skate,  or  the  Lampreys,  which  come  under  the 
same  class  with  the  Sharks,  Chondropterygii^  or  cartilaginous  fishes, 
the  skeletons  of  which  are  not,  as  in  the  Malacopkrygii  or  Acanthop- 
terygiij  composed  of  bone,  but  of  cartilaginous  or  gristly  matter. 
The  Eel,  which  is  not  a  Game  Fish,  is  of  the  class  Malacopterygiij 
but  with  a  different  arrangement  of  fins,  which  gives  him  the  title  of 
Apodal.  He  hardly  deserves  notice  at  all,  unless  as  an  article  of  food, 
and  if  mentioned,  will  be  kept  aloof  from  the  others. 

Of  these  two  great  generic  divisions,  then,  are  all  the  fresh-water 
fishes  more  or  less  distinct  families;  and  all  the  shoal-water  sea-fishes 
likewise,  with  which  we  have  to  do  ;  nor  is  there  any  line  to  be  drawn 
as  regards  the  migratory  or  non-migratory  fishes,  some  of  these  belong- 
ing to  each  of  these  two  great  classes. 

It  will  be  well  to  observe  here,  that  I  consider  all  those  fish  which 
run  up  rivers  and  streams  into  the  fresh-water  for  the  purpose  of 
spawning,  which  pass  a  considerable  portion  of  the  year,  and  are 
principally,  if  not  wholly,  taken  in  such  water,  as  fresh-water  fishes ; 
although  a  resort  to  the  salt-water  is  necessary  to  the  reinvigoration 


THE  QAME  FISH  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


93 


of  their  constitutions;  and,  it  is  probable,  to  the  excellence  of  their 
flesh,  and  the  courage  and  boldness  of  their  tempers. 

Tu  this  class  belong  several  of  the  finest  and  most  important  of  all 
our  fish,  both  as  regards  the  table,  and  the  sport;  for  to  this  are 
directly  referable  the  Salmon,  that  king  of  the  piscine  world,  the  Sea 
Trout,  the  Striped  Bass,  the  Shad,  and  the  Smelt;  both  of  which,  for 
reasons  which  I  shall  give,  when  I  am  to  treat  of  them,  under  their 
own  proper  heads,  I  admit  as  Game  Fishes. 

Our  fresh-water  fishes,  then,  all  belonging  to  the  two  classes  above 
named,  Malacopterygii,  soft-finned,  and  Acanthopterygiiy  or  spiny- 
finned,  are  divided  into  the  following  families : — 

Of  the  first.  Abdominal  Malacopterygii,  we  have  '   ^ 

The  family  of  Salmonid^,  of  which  the  true  sea  Salmon  is  the 
type,  and  of  which  there  are  many  varieties  and  sub-genera,  both 
migratory  and  non-migratory ;  the  principal  are 
Genus  Salmo  : 

The  True  Salmon,  Salmo  Salar. 

The   Greatest   Lake    Trout — Mackinaw   Salmon — Salmo 

Amethystus. 
The  Northern  Lake  Trout — Siskawitz — Salmo  Siskawitz. 
The  Lake  TftouT — Salmon  Trout — Salmo  Comfinis. 
The  Sebago  Trout,  Salmo  Sebago. 
The  Arctic  Char,  Salmo  Hoodii. 
The  Sea  Trout,  White  Trout,  or  Silver  Trout — Salmo  Trutta 

Marina. 
The  Brook  Trout,  Salmo  Fontinalis. 
Genus  Osmerus  : 

The  Smelt,  Osmerus  Viridescens. 
Genus  Thvmallus  : 

The  Arctic  Grayling,  Tkymallus  Signifer. 
Genus  Coregonus  : 

The  White  Fish,  Coregonus  Alhus. 

The  Otsego  Bass* — misnomer — Coresonus  Otseso. 


•  This  very  beautiful  fish  so  closely  resembles  the  White-fish,  Coregonus  Alhus, 
na  to  be  conceived  by  many  persons  to  be  merely  a  casual  variety.  This,  however, 
does  not  appear  to  be  in  truth  the  case.  It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  true  and 
distinctive  names  should  not  be  attached  to  fishes  which,  having  been  absurdly  mis- 


34 


THE  GAME  FISH  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


2.  Family  Silurid^, 

Containing  many  species,  Cat-Fish,  Bull-Heads,  &o.,  unworthy  of 
notice,  except, 
Genus  SiLURus:  "  '^ 

The  Great  CAT-FisHy  Pimelodes  Huron.  ^   ' 

3.  Family  Cyprinid^, 

Containing  many  varieties.     The  Chub,  Sucker,  Shiner,  Roach, 
Dace,  Bream,  &c.,  of  no  account  except  for  bai«,  unless  it  be 
two  imported  species. 
'      The  Common  Carp,  Cyprinus  Carpioy  and 
The  Golden  Carp,  Cyprinm  Auratus. 

5.  Family  Clupeidje. 
Genus  Alosa  : 

The  Shad,*  Alosa  PrastabUis. 
Genus  Clupea  :  - 

The  Herring,  C/ifpca  ^arcw^s. 

6.  Family  Esocid^. 
Genus  Estor  : 

The  Mascalonge,  Esox  Estor. 

The  Northern  Pickerel,  Esox  Lucioides. 

The  Common  Pickerel,  Esox  Reticulatus. 

The  Long  Island  Pickerel,  Esox  Fasdatus. 

The  Garpike,  Esox  Osseus. 

Beside  two  or  three  other  species,  found  in  the  Pennsylvaniah 

and  Western  waters. 

This  brings  us  to  the  end  of  our  fresh-water,  soft-finned  fishes ;  or 

of  such,  at  least,  as  are  in  any  wise  worthy  to  be  accounted  Game 

Fishes ;  and  we  come  to  the  second  division,  Acanthopterygii,  or  spiny- 


uamed  by  the  ignorant  early  settlers,  still  go  by  those  stupid  misnomers — as  in  the 
present  instance,  where  a  fish  having  no  possible  analogy  to  a  Bass,  and,  indeed, 
belonging  to  a  different  class  of  fish,  "  soft-finned,"  is  termed  Basa.  The  analogous 
fish  in  England  are  known  a^  Gwyniad,  Vendace  and  Pollan.  I  would  suggest 
«  Otsego  Lavaret"  as  a  very  suitable  name  for  this  unnamed  species. 

*  I  somewhat  doubt  this  distinction.  I  have  drawings,  made  from  life,  of  two 
varieties  of  Shad  taken  in  New  York  bay,  agreeing  precisely  with  Alosa  Finta  and 
Alosa  Communis,  of  Yarrel — the  Twaite  and  Allice  Shad  of  England — to  the  lat- 
ter of  which  I  would  refer  this  fish. 


THE  OAIIB  riSH  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


35 


finned  fishes,  which,  though  it  is  Baron  Cuvior's  first  division,  I  have 
postponed  to  the  Malacopterygiiy  or  soft-finned  fishes,  on  account  of 
the  greater  estimation  in  which  they  are  held,  especially  the  nohle- 
Salmon,  Pike  and  Shad  families,  by  both  epicure  and  sportsman. 

Second,  however,  to  these  only  are  several  of  the  families  of  the 
second  class,  and  scarcely  inferior  oven  to  these  is  the  splendid  genus 
Labrax,  unquestionably,  next  to  the  Salmon,  the  most  sporting  fiMi 
in  all  respects  in  the  world,  and  in  his  absence  facile  priwepf 

Of  the  class  AfJANTHOPTERyoii,  then,  we  have 
The  Family  Percida. 

1.  Genus  Perca  :  '  ^ 

The  Yellow  Pearch,  Perca  Flavescens.  ^ 

Of  this  there  are  three  or  four  very  closely-allied  varieties. 
•  The  White  Pearch,  Perca  Pallida. 

The  Common  Pearch,  Perca  FluviatiliSy  and  others  of  less 
note,  among  which  are  the  genera  Corvina  and  Pomotis. 

2.  Genus  Labrax  : 

The  Striped  Bass — Rock  Fish — Labrax  Lineatus. 

3.  Genus  Lucioperca  : 

The  Pike  Pearch — American  Sandre,  Ohio  Salmon,  &o.— 

Lucioperca  Americana. 
The  Canadian  Sandre,  Lucioperca  Canadensis. 

4.  Genus  Gristes  : 

The  Black  Bass — Oswego  Bass — Ghistes  Nigricans 

5.  Genus  Centrarchus  : 

The  Rock  Bass,  Centrarchus  jEneus 

6.  Genus  Otolithus: 

The  Weak-Fish,  vulgo  Trout,  Otolithus  Regalis  and  Caroli- 
nensis. 

And  with  these,  unless  the  reader  choose  to  add  the  Eel,  of  the  class 
Apodal  Malacoptcrrjgiij  family  Angtdllida^  the  list  of  the  fresh-water 
sporting  fishes  of  the  United  States  and  British  Provinces  may  be  said 
to  close. 

Of  these  fish,  the  True  Salmon,  Salmo  Salar,  the  Sea  Trout,  Salmo 
Trutta  Mariiuiy  the  Brook  Trout,  Salmo  Fontinalis,  the  Arctic  Charr, 
Salmo  Hoodii,  and  perhaps  the  Sebago  Lake  Trout,  are  migratory, 
as  is  also  the  Arctic  Grayling,  Thymallus  Signifer  ;  all  the  other  IjaLc 


2(i 


Till':  GAME  riSlI  OF  NORTH   AMERICA 


Trout,  uuil  Hucli  of  tlio  Ijronk  Trout  an  aro  found  in  small  tstrcamo 
above  inipritctictiblo  fulls,  or  in  spring  punds,  or  lakes  without  outlets, 
aro  stationury,  or  non-migratory  ;  and  tho  oonscqucncos  of  their  habit 
may  bo  vory  readily  disco vorcd  in  tho  inferiority  of  their  llosh,  both 
in  color  and  firmn?Ns  of  musclo,  and  in  their  comparatively  lazy  gait, 
and  want  of  game  qualities,  vigor  and  endurance. 

Of  other  soft-finned  fishes,  tho  Smelt,  Osmcrut  Viridcsccns,  the  Shad, 
Alo$a  l*i'(ntabiUsy  and  tho  Herring,  Ctupra  Harcngus^  are  migratory 
fr<»m  Halt  to  fresh-water,  and  so  perhaps  is  tho  Weak-Fish,  in  the 
Southern  waters,  there  misnamed  Trout,*  Otoliths  Carolheitsis. 

Tho  White- Fish,  Coregonus  A/bus,  and  tho  Otsego  Bass,  Corcgonus 
Otsfgo,  ari!  partially  migratory  from  the  deeper  waters  of  the  lakes 
which  they  inhabit,  All  the  Siluridce^  CyprinidcBj  and  Esocidcc,  aro 
stationary  fish. 

Three  or  four  of  tho  above  species  and  varieties  I  have  admitted 
with  no  small  doubt ;  and  first  of  these,  in  tho  family  Salmonidce,  the 
Conniion  Lake  Trout,t  Satino  ConfiniSy  of  DeKay ;  because  I  can  see 
no  sufficient  cause  for  distinguishing  this  fish  from  tho  Greatest  Lako 
Trout,  or  Mackinaw  Salmon,  with  which  it  appears  to  mo  to  be  iden- 
tical, except  in  size  ;  whereas  size  alone  is  a  very  insufiicient  cause  of 
SQparation.  Secondly,  the  Sebago  Lake  Trout,  which  is  to  be  found, 
as  a  distinct  variety,  in  no  work  on  American  Icthyology ;  and  yet  I 
have  thought  it  best  to  insert  it,  on  tho  authority  of  several  distin- 
guished sportsmen,  who  have  had  frequent  opportunities  of  comparing 
it  with  the  ordinary  Lako  Trout,  and  who  pronounce  it  to  be  a  new 
and  nondescript  fish,  imless  it  be  tho  True  Salmon  degenerated.  This 
last  hypothesis  I  am  unwilling  to  listen  to,  as  I  disbelieve  in  the  dege- 
neration of  animals,  in  peculiar  localities,  unless  confined  under  unna- 
tural circumstances,  as  a  sea-running  fish  in  fresh-water,  without  means 

*  This  fiHh  I  have  never  seen ;  but  I  greatly  doubt  that  the  fit>)i  called  "  Trout." 
in  tho  South,  in  identical  with  (ho  Northern  Weak-Fish.  From  Professor  Affassiz, 
1  understand  it  to  he  a  peculiar  variety  of  the  Weak-F'sh,  Otolithua,  being  spotted 
rather  than  striped,  and  thus  differing  somewhat  from  it,  and  frequenting  fresh 
streams,  which  the  others  do  not.  ^ 

*  NoTR  TO  Revised  Edition. — With  regard  to  this  fish,  I  am  Batirfied  thut  it  is 
distinct  from  Ainethyilua,  though  closely  allied  to  it.  It  is  a  deeper  and  shorter 
fish.    See  Supplement. 


THE  OAMF.  r:*'H  OF   NORTH   AMCklCA. 


97 


of  flgroBB.  I  undv!i'Htniul  that  this  Scbayo  Trout  has  aooosn  to  the  sea; 
there  is  no  reason,  thurfforc,  why,  if  originally  u  truo  Salmon,  it  should 
have  lost  its  truo  charactfristics  in  wators  having  their  exit  through 
the  Saco,  more  than  in  those  which  di.schargo  via.  the  Kennebec,  or 
why  it  should  continue  to  run  up  a  HmalK'r  rivor,  when  it  has  dos,'rtL'd 
all  the  larger  rivers  westward  of  the  Penobscot,  with  the  exception  of 
a  vory  few  which  are,  perhaps,  still  taken  in  the  Andro8cogc;in  and 
the  Kenncboo,  where,  a  few  years  ago,  they  absolutely  swarnunl. 

With  regard  to  this  fish,  however,  I  hope,  before  concluding  this 
work,  to  receive  more  decided  information  from  some  of  my  obliging 
correspondents  in  that  quarter ;  and  perhaps  even  a  specimen  by  which 
to  compare  with  the  other  varieties  of  this  genus. 

Again,  of  the  Sea  Trout,  or  White  Trout,  I  have  my  doubts, 
whether  it  be  not  a  grilse,  or  Salmon  of  the  third  year.  It  is  as  yet, 
so  far  as  I  know,  unfigured  and  undescribed ;  but  my  information  con- 
oorninsr  it  from  excellent  fishermen  on  the  waters  where  it  abounds, 
the  rivers,  mainly,  which  fall  into  the  Bay  of  Gaspc  and  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence,  is  so  clear  and  strong,  that  I  prefer  noting  it  as  a  ques- 
tionable variety,  in  the  hopes  of  call!  ig  to  it  the  attention  of  older 
naturalists  than  myself,  and  of  those  who  have  better  opportunities  of 
obtaining  and  examining  specimens. 

Lastly,  the  Rcd-bolliod  Trout,  Salmo  EryfJirognstcr.  of  Dr.  DeKa  v, 
1  decline  to  insert  on  his  authority,  being  entirely  unconvinced  as  to  its 
being  anything  more  than  a  mere  accidental  variety.  The  whole  of 
that  region  of  lakes  and  rivers,  in  the  Northeastern  angle  of  New  York, 
in  which  this  variety  5s  said  to  exist,  teems  with  accidental  varieties  of 
the  Brook  Trout,  of  almost  every  size,  as  well  as  shade  and  color,  both 
of  flesh  and  external  tints.  The  Tr^  at  of  no  two  of  these  lakes  or 
rivers  are  precisely  identical.  The  same  may  be  said  of  Brook  Trout 
from  various  waters  in  Long  Island.  These  differences,  however,  are 
not  deemed  sufficient,  consisting,  mainly,  in  variations  of  hue,  not  of 
form,  bony  configuration,  scales,  or  fins,  whereon  to  found  generic 
distinctions. 

The  same  remarks  apply  to  a  small  fish,  which  Dr.  DeKay  has 
described  at  length,  and  figured  under  a  new  name,  as  the  Troutlet, 
in  his  fauna  of  New  York ;  and  which  is  unquestionably  nothing  more 
than  the  young  fry  of  the  common  Brook  Trout,  while  it  is  so  small  as 


/ 


28 


THE  GKVS.  FISH  CF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


I    tfH 


to  retain  the  lateral  transverse  bars,  or  clouded  bands,  which  have 
lately  been  discovered  to  belong  to  the  fry  of  every  known  variety  of 
the  family  of  the  Salmon,  and  which  have  caused  all  the  confusion,  and 
given  rise  to  all  the  various  theories,  concerning  the  Parr  of  Great 
Britain. 

Into  all  these  points  I  shall  enter  more  fully  under  their  appropriate 
heads,  when  treating  of  the  separate  fish  to  which  they  relate. 

The  Smelt,  Osmerus  Viridescens,  I  have  mentioned,  though  not  pro- 
perly a  Game  Fish — for  it  is  probable  that  the  statements  of  its  being 
taken  with  the  hook  refer  to  the  Atherine  or  Sand  Smelt — because 
there  are  some  errors  to  be  refuted,  connected  with  him  and  the  young 
of  the  true  Salmon,  which  would  not  so  easily  be  dealt  with  otherwise ; 
and  the  Shad,  Alosa  Prastabilis^  I  have  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  Game 
Fish,  not  merely  on  account  of  the  excellence  of  his  flesh  in  a  culinary 
point  of  view,  but  because  I  am  well  satisfied  by  indisputable  proofs, 
that  although  it  is  not  usual  to  attempt  the  capture  of  this  fish  sports- 
manlike, the  fault  rests  not  with  the  Shad,  but  with  the  angler. 

He  will  not  only  take  the  fly,  and  on  some  occasions  very  freely,  but 
runs  strongly  away  with  the  line,  and  fights  hard  before  he  is  subdued. 
I  regard  him  a  very  decided  addition  to  the  list  of  Amercian  sporting- 
fishes. 

The  common  Herring  can  be  taken  very  readily  in  the  same  manner, 
and  I  have  had  very  considerable  amusement  in  killing  them  with  a 
gaudy  peacock-tail  fly,  in  New  York  harbor,  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort 
Diamond,  at  the  Narrows.  '    •  *' 

With  these  exceptions,  and  the  two  varieties  of  White-fish,  one  of 
which  is  absurdly  misnamed  Otsego  Bass,  having  about  as  much  rela- 
tion to  a  Bass  as  it  has  to  a  Flounder,  all  that  I  have  named  arc 
admitted  to  be  game  by  all  fishermen ;  and  these  I  have  mentioned, 
because  I  have  little  or  no  doubt  that  they  also,  like  their  European 
congeners,  the  Gwyniad  of  Wales  and  the  PoUan  of  Ireland,  may  be 
occasionally  taken  with  the  artificial  fly. 

All  these  fish  are  Coregonu  and  are  very  nearly  analogous  to  one 
another,  forming  a  sort  of  intermediate  link  between  the  families  of 
Salmonid/t  and  Clupeida.  or  Salmon  and  Shad,  although  they  are 
included  for  many  satisfactory  reasons  among  the  former — the  commou 


/ 


THE  OAME  r:SH  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


2\i 


paoplo  in  Great  Britain  calling  them  fresh-water  Herring,  while  in  the 
United  States  they  not  unfrcquently  pass  by  the  name  of  Shad-salmon. 
The  flesh  of  all  the  varieties  is  delicate  and  highly-flavored.  The 
desire  of  comparing  these  American  Coregoni  with  the  British  varie- 
ties, and  of  bringing  them  somewhat  more  into  general  notice,  has 
induced  me  to  notice  them,  rather  than  their  game  nature. 

I  now  proceed  to  the  salt  water  fishes,  both  those  taken  in  deep,  and 
thosa  in  shoal  water,  of  the  various  families  above-named ;  and  there- 
after shall  arrange  them  according  to  their  haunts  and  habits. 

Of  those  salt-water  fish  of  the  Atlantic  coasts  which  afford  the  most 
real  sport  to  the  angler,  and  which  are  alone  taken  with  the  rod  and 
reel,  all  the  families  belong  to  the  class  of  the  AcantAopterygii,  or 
spiny-finned  fishes,  none  of  the  soft-finned  fishes  of  the  abdominal 
diviiiinn  being  taken  in  the  shoal  waters  of  the  bays  and  estuaries ; 
while  the  deep-sea  fish  are  all  of  the  sub-brachiol  Malacopterygii^ 
unless  we  may  consider  as  such  the  Sea  Bass  and  Porgec,  which  ore, 
however,  as  often  or  oftener  caught  in  shallow  water. 

Salt-water  fish,  taken  in  shoal  water,  river  mouths,  and  the  like, 
Aea/ntkopterygiif  spiny-finned,  we  have  of  the  family  / 

Percioa,  whereof  the  Pearch  is  the  type. 
Genus  Labrax: 

The  Striped  Bass,  Lahrax  Lineatus. 

Mentioned  above  as  a  fresh-water  fish,  being  frequently  caught 
in  rivers  far  above  tide-water,  as  well  as  in  the  estuaries,  and 
even  in  the  surfs  on  the  ocean  borders.  ^   . 

Genus  Centropristes:  '.  \  .- 

The  Sea  Bass,  Centropristes  Nigricans. 
Scienida. 
Genus  Leiostomus  : 

The  Sea  Chub — Lafayette  Fish — Leiostomus  Obliquus. 
Genus  Otolithus  : 

The  WeaK'FisHj  Otolithus  Regalis.  -a 

The  SovTHfitijf  Trovt,  Otolithus  Carolinensis. 
Genus  Umbrina  : 

The  Ktva-FiBHf  Umbrina  Nebulosa.  : 

Genus  Pooonias: 

The  Drum-Fish,  Pogonias  Ckromis. 


30 


THE  GAME  FISH  OF  NO^IH   AMERICA. 


Spa  RID JB.  '     V 

Genus  Sargus;  ^         , 

The  Sheep's-Head,  Sargus  Oois.    '>  , 

Genus  Pagrus: 

The 'PoROEEy  Pagrus  Argyrops.  : 

scombridje.  :",      ,       \,, 

Genus  Temnodon:  •  ' 

The  Blue-Fish — Skip-Jack — Temnodon  Saltator. 

Labrid-e. 
■   Genus  Tautooa  :  ; —  .«.  ....  ^^..^  ■..„•     ..•,;..■ 

'        The  Tautog — Black  Fish — Tautoga  Americana. 

These  complete  the  list  of  those  salt-water  fish  which  are  of  any 
repute  as  affording  sport  to  the  angler  in  shoal  water ;  they  may  all 
be  taken  with  the  rod  and  reel,  in  the  bays,  mouths  of  rivers,  and 
shallow  inlets  along  the  greater  portion  of  our  coast,  especially  in  the 
vicinity  of  reefs,  the  piles  of  old  docks,  or  the  hulls  of  sunken  vessels, 
around  which  they  are  often  found  in  so  large  shoals,  and  bite  so  freely 
and  rapidly,  as  to  afford  a  very  high  degree  of  amusement.  Many 
persons  are  extremely  fond  of  this  kind  of  fishing,  though  it  cannot 
sustain  a  moment's  comparison  with  Trouting,  much  less  with  Salmon 
fishing,  or  indeed  with  trolling  or  spinning  for  the  Pike  and  the  Black 
Bass.  -'  ■■  >.-i  ► 

Several  of  the  above-mentioned  fishes  are  of  rare  excellence ;  the 
Weak  Fish  and  Blue  Fish,  when  quite  fresh  out  of  the  water,  are  not 
easily  surpassed ;  but  the  King  Fish  and  the  Sheep's-head,  the  latter 
a  migratory  fish,  visiting  us  during  the  summtr  months  only,  are  in 
far  greater  esteem,  being  regarded  by  epicures  as  inferior  to  none 
which  are  taken  in  our  waters. 

The  most  extraordinary  day's  sport  I  have  seen  recorded  in  this 
line,  fell  to  the  lot  of  a  gentleman  of  New  York,  well  known  as  an 
enthusiastical  amateur  and  a  most  skilful  proficient  in  the  gentle  art, 
and  was  thus  recorded  at  the  time  in  the  Commercial  Advertiser  of 
1827.  I  note  the  circumstance,  and  quote  the  following  lines  from  a 
very  useful,  unpretending,  and  not  therefore  less  agreeable  compen- 
dium, "  The  American  Angler's  Guide,"  published,  I  believe,  by  Mr. 
Brown,  well  known  as  the  proprietor  of  the  Angler's  depot,  where  he 
keeps  an  excellent  assortment  of  tackle  of  all  kinds,  in  Fulton  .street 


THE  GAME  FI8H  OF  NOr.TH  AMERICA 


81 


I  have  oftsu  derived  both  information  and  entertainment  from  thin  good 
little  manual,  which  is  succinct  and  portable,  and  I  strongly  recom- 
mend it  to  my  readers. 

The  feat  to  which  I  have  alluded  is  thus  recorded  in  its  pages: — 

"  On  Friday  last,  a  gentleman  of  this  city  went  out  fishing  from 
Rockaway  into  Jamaica  Bay,  with  his  son,  a  lad  of  twelve  years  of 
age.  They  commenced  fishing  at  half-past  seven  in  the  morning, 
spent  half  an  hour  in  dining  at  noon,  und  quit  fishing  at  half-past  one, 
having  taken  with  their  rods,  in  six  hour  four  hundred  and  seventy- 
two  King-Fish.  Their  guide  was  J  i  :  ii  Bannister;  none  of  these 
fish  were  taken  by  him,  as  he  was  diligently  employed  the  whole  time 
in  preparing  bait." 

The  writer  adds  that  he  admit"  this  to  have  been  "  an  extraordi- 
nary performance;"  but  he  goes  on  to  say  "that  he  has  many  times 
taken  above  one  hundred  in  a  tide,  though  of  late  years  these  fish 
have  become  scarce  in  those  waters,  it  being  supposed  that  their  enemy, 
the  Blue-Fish,  by  preying  on  their  young,  have  caused  the  scarcity." 

It  is  scarcely  necessary,  I  presume,  to  remark  that  no  such  feats 
are  to  be  performed  now-a-days;  and  he  is  a  happy  and  an  envied  man, 
who  succeeds,  at  present,  in  capturing  a  few  brace  of  this  delicioa*< 
game  fish. 

I  now  come  to  the  last  section  of  my  work,  the  deep-sea  fishes,  very 
few  of  which  are  worthy  of  remark  in  connexion  with  the  angler's 
sport,  although  they  are  all  of  superior  excellence,  as  dainties. 

These  are  all  soft-finned  fishes,  but  they  form  a  separate  class  of 
the  Mahcopterygiij  owing  to  a  peculiar  arrangement  of  their  fins,  th(! 
bones  supporting  the  ventrals  being  attached  to  the  bones  of  the  shoul- 
ders which  support  the  pectorals,  whence  they  have  obtained  the  term 
sub-brachial. 

To  this  class  of  sub-brachial  Malacopterygii  belong  the  tro  familie.*^ 
of  Gadida  and  Pleuronectidce,  Cod  and  Fiat-Fish,  to  one  or  other  of 
which  pertain  all  the  species  which  are  taken  by  the  drop-line  on  our 
coast;  a  sport  which  is  almost  too  dirty,  as  well  as  too  laborious,  to  be 
in  very  truth  a  sport. 

Of  the  family  Gadida,  of  which  the  Cod  is  the  type,  we  have 
The  Common  Cod,  Morrhua  Vulgaris. 
The  Kat}i>ock^  Morrhua  ^glejinis 


•^ff-rrtmiimiatmmtiivvtttmittmm- 


»««»vit<«i<.««Mn» 


32 


THE  GAME  FISH  0?  NORTH  AMERICA. 


The  Whitino,  Merlangus  Americanus. 

And  although  there  are  several  other  species  of  more  or  less  esti- 
mation for  the  table,  as  the  Torsk  or  Tusk,  Brosmius  Vulgaris^  the 
Hake,  Merlucius  Vulgaris,  and  some  others,  none  but  these  are  such 
as  to  require  enumeration  in  a  work  of  this  description. 

Of  the  second  family,  Pleuronectidaj  I  shall  think  it  enough  to  men- 
tion, 

The  Halibut,  Hippoglossus  Vidgarisj  yrhich  is  the  largest  species 
of  this  family,  as  well  as  the  best  that  is  taken  in  American  waters ; 
for  the  species  of  Turbot,  Rhombus^  which  is  found  on  the  coasts  of 
Massachusetts  bay,  and  that  neighborhood,  is  greatly  inferior,  both  in 
size  and  quality  to  the  celebrated  European  fish  of  the  same  name. 

The  Flounder,  of  New  York,  Pleuronectes  Dentatus,  which  is  also 
frequently  taken,  though  more  commonly  by  accident,  while  in  pursuit 
of  finer  fish,  than  as  the  angler's  prime  object,  is  rather  a  delicate  fish, 
and  often  bites  freely. 

With  this  brief  enumeration  of  sea-fish  I  shall  content  myself,  as  the 
description  and  habits  of  others,  though  curious,  and  full  of  interest 
to  the  icthyologist  and  student  of  nature,  belong  rather  to  the  depart- 
ment of  science,  than  to  the  craft  of  the  angler. 

I  may,  however,  mention,  not  as  objects  but  accessories  of  the  sport, 
the  Atherine,  Atherina  Menidia,  a  variety  of  the  fish  known  in  England 
as  the  Sand  Smelt,  here  commonly  called  the  Spearling  or  Sparling, 
and  much  used  as  a  bait,  for  which  its  bright  silvery  colors  particu- 
larly adapt  it. 

The  British  variety  is  frequently  taken  with  the  hook ;  and  on  the 
Southern  coasts,  where  the  true  Smelt  is  unknown,  it  is  commonly 
known  and  sold  as  that  fish,  to  which  it  bears  some  degree  of  similarity 
in  flavor,  as  well  as  in  the  cucumber  smell  common  to  both  when 
freshly  taken  from  the  water. 

I  am  not  aware  that  the  American  fish  is  ever  eaten,  though  it  is 
very  abundant  on  the  coasts ;  in  appearance,  it  so  closely  resembles 
the  European  species,  that  on  a  slight  inspection  it  would  be  taken 
for  it. 

The  Sand  Launce,  Ammodytes  Lancea,  is  also  held  in  high  estima- 
tion as  a  bait  for  sea  and  hand  lines,  owing  to  its  silvery  brightness. 
It  is  for  the  former  of  these  little  fish  that  the  Blue-Fish,  Tevmndon 


niE  GAME  FIBH  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


33 


Saltatory  and  tbo  Stripod  Bass,  Lahrax  Lineatus,  strike  at  the 
polished  bone,  p3arl,  or  metal  squid^  as  it  }fi  termed,  of  the  fisher- 
man, when  it  is  made  to  play  with  a  rotatory  motion,  glancing  through 
the  water,  in  the  wake  of  a  Bwift<sailing  boat,  or  in  the  surf  upon  the 
outer  beaches. 

Having  now  accomplished  the  dry  work  of  enumerating  and  classi- 
fying those  of  the  fish  of  America,  whether  fresh  or  salt-water,  which 
I  consider  worthy  of  the  sportsman's  notice,  I  shall  proceed  to  describe 
them  more  or  less  briefly,  according  to  the  degree  of  interest  attach- 
ing to  their  habits,  migrations,  growth,  and  breeding ;  and  thereafter 
to  the  best  and  most  improved  mode  of  taking  them ;  best,  1  mean,  as 
regards  art,  piscatorial  science,  and  sport,  not  looking  to  the  mere 
amount  of  slaughter,  but  considering  in  this  instance  the  sicaviter  in 
modoj  long  before  the  mere  fortiter  in  re. 

And  here  I  will  venture  to  request  my  reader,  who  may  have  pro- 
ceeded thus  far  in  this  volume  without  finding  very  much  to  interest 
or  enlighten  him,  not  to  lay  by  its  pages  in  disgust ;  as  this  portion, 
necessarily  partaking  much  of  the  character  of  a  catalogue,  can  hardly 
be  expected  to  be  very  amusing,  while  I  think  I  can  promise  that  he 
will  find  something  to  awaken  his  interest,  whether  he  be  a  scientific 
naturalist,  or  a  mere  sportsman,  before  he  has  advanced  many  pages 
fsxrther;  inasmuch,  as  thanks  especially  to  the  assistance  of  my  good 
friend  Professor  Agassiz,  and  other  correspondents,  I  believe  I  shall 
have  the  pleasure  of  laying  before  him  something  that  is  not  only  new, 
but  curious  and  highly  interesting  concerning  the  growth,  the  breed- 
ing, and  the  varieties,  several  of  them  hitherto  undoscribed,  of  the 
family  of  Salmon,  Salmonida,  of  North  America,  to  the  consideration 
of  which  I  come  without  farther  delay. 


^«WHlBll^<l!ll»)|aMHXl,iN,g. 


>-'-»»v"*iMmmimtf^  f  ».  * 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


SALMONIDA, 


o» 


THE  SALMON  FAMILY. 


It  must  not  be  supposed,  although,  for  want  of  reflection  on  the 
subject,  many  persons  probably  may  expect  it,  that  thi  closest  observer 
and  most  accurate  discriminator  of  the  facts  on  which  the  science  of 
the  naturalist  is  founded,  can  lay  down  the  law  with  regard  to  the 
habits,  the  food,  the  haunts,  the  appetites,  or  even  the  distinct  species, 
of  that  portion  of  the  animal  creation  which  dwell  for  the  most  part 
unseen  in  the  bosom  of  the  waters,  with  the  same  certainty  as  he  can 
those  of  domestic  animals,  or  oven  of  birds  and  beasts, /cr<3  naturd. 

Of  the  latter  even,  especially  of  wild  birds,  which  emigrate  from 
clime  to  clime  with  the  change  of  seasons,  there  has  been  much  diffi- 
culty in  ascertaining  the  growth,  the  age,  and  the  changes  of  plumage, 
from  the  immature  to  the  adult  animal,  or  from  the  winter  to  the  sum- 
mer dress — so  much  so,  that  out  of  individuals  diflfering  in  age,  sex,  or 
season,  of  the  same  family,  and  belonging  to  a  single  species,  in  many 
instances,  two,  three  or  more  distinct  varieties  have  been  created  by 
naturalists. 

Much  has  been  effected,  indeed,  of  late,  in  these  particulars,  owing 
to  the  greater  science  and  experience  of  modern  naturalists — who  now 


/ 


eALMONinj 


30 


prefer  the  investigation  of  facts  to  the  building  up  plausiblo  theories — 
to  the  greater  diffusion  ol'  knowledge  and  love  of  scientific  inquiry 
amonc  the  masses,  and,  in  no  slight  degree,  to  the  able  and  laborious 
system  of  experiments  which  have  been  set  on  foot  and  carried  out  by 
country  gentlemen  and  sportsmen,  to  many  of  whom  the  world  of 
letters  is  indebted  for  very  interesting  and  remarkable  discoveries. 

It  is  but  a  few  years,  comparatively  speaking,  since  that  accurate 
observer  and  delightful  writer,  Gilbert  White,  of  Solborne,  the 
most  charming  rural  naturalist  whom  England — perhaps  the  world  — 
has  produced,  thought  it  not  unworthy  of  his  time  or  talents  to  enter 
into  a  long  train  of  investigation  and  argument,  in  order  to  prove  that 
the  Swallow — as  then  appears  to  have  been  largely,  if  not  generally 
believed — did  not  pass  the  winter  months  in  a  torpid  state,  cither  in 
the  hollows  of  decayed  trees  and  caverns,  or  beneath  the  waters  of 
stagnant  pools  and  morasses. 

In  like  manner  Mr.  Audubon  has  been  peculiarly  minute  in  describ- 
ing the  migrations  of  the  Sora  Rail,  as  witnessed  by  himsalf,  for  the 
purpose  of  counteracting  the  notion,  which  I  myself  still  know  to  be 
prevalent  among  the  vulgar  and  ignorant  where  these  birds  abound, 
that  they  burrow  in  the  mud  during  the  cold  season,  hybernating  like 
the  Marmot  or  the  Bear. 

If,  then,  errors  so  gross  were  commonly  in  vogue  concerning  animals, 
the  greater  portion  of  whose  life  is  spent  before  our  very  eyes ;  which 
make  their  nests,  rear  their  young,  come  and  go  visibly,  and  in  such 
manner  that  their  presence  and  absence,  nay,  the  periods  of  their 
departure  and  return,  must  be  observed  even  by  the  careless  and  inat- 
tentive looker-on;  much  more  is  it  to  be  expected  that  the  habits, 
nay,  the  sexes,  ages,  and  distinct  species  of  fish,  which  rarely  present 
themselves  to  the  eyes  even  of  the  most  curious  inquirers,  which  come 
and  go  unseen  and  unsuspected,  who83  mysteries  of  generation  and 
reproduction  are  all  performed  in  a  medium  the  least  penetrable  to  the 
eyes  of  science,  whose  changes  of  size  and  color,  from  infancy  to  matu- 
rity, pass  utterly  beyond  our  ken,  should  have  been  misconceived,  mis- 
interpreted, and  misdescribed. 

Within  the  last  few  years  more  has  been  done  to  elucidate  these 
mysteries,  and  to  bring  us  to  an  accurate  knowledge  of  this  interesting 


36 


AMEHICAN  FI&IIES. 


portion  of  the  animal  creation,  than  in  many  previous  centuries ;  and 
although  much  yet  remains,  infinitely  more,  doubtless,  than  has  been 
done,  still  we  have  very  recently  attained  much  certain  knowledge 
regarding  several  of  the  most  interesting  families ;  we  have  arrived  at 
results  which,  by  simple  deduction,  show  us  how  we  may  hope  to  arrive 
at  more,  having  now  obtained  data  wherefrom  to  advance  and  discover 
the  process  by  which  to  do  so. 

The  means  by  which  thus  much  has  been  accomplished,  may  be 
described  briefly,  as  the  taking  nothing  for  granted,  assuming  nothing 
on  hearsay  beyond  facts,  and  on  investigating  everything  carefully  and 
painfully,  not  following  too  readily  preconceived  opinions,  nor  being 
misled  by  mere  external  and  superficial  resemblances,  hut  being  guided 
by  comparison  and  experiment,  as  founded  in  a  great  degree  on  ana- 
tomy and  osteology. 

In  the  examination  and  comparison  of  fishes,  the  clear  understand- 
ing of  a  few  simple  facts,  which  it  is  necessary  to  observe  and  record, 
will  enable  any  sportsman  to  describe  any  supposed  new  variety  or 
species,  with  such  accuracy  as  to  render  his  description  of  the  highest 
value  for  scientific  purposes ;  to  make  it,  in  short,  such  that  a  naturalist 
shall  be  justified  in  pronouncing  positively  thereupon  as  to  the  genus, 
species,  sex,  and  perhaps  age,  of  the  variety  described  or  discovered. 

The  first  point  to  be  observed  is  the  nature  of  the  fins,  as  hard-rayed 
and  spiny,  as  in  the  Fearch,  the  Bass,  and  others  which  it  is  needless 
here  to  enumerate;  or  soft-rayed  and  flexible,  as  in  the  Pike,  the 
Salmon,  the  Carp,  and  many  more.  The  second,  is  the  position  of  the 
fins;  and  to  elucidate  this  point  to  the  unscientific  reader,  I  here 
subjoin  an  outline  with  references,  to  render  this  method  of  examina- 
tion comprehensible  and  easy  of  acquisition  to  anybody. 

The  subject  of  this  outline  is  the  young  of  the  Lake  Trout,  Salmo 
Trutta  Lin.  of  the  European  continent.  This  figure,  which  is  taken 
by  permission  from  Mr.  Aoassiz'  fine  work,  Histoire  Naturelle  de$ 
Poissons  d*Eau  douce  de  L^Europe  Centrale^  represents  a  young  Sal- 
mon Trout,  taken  in  the  lake  of  Neufchatel,  at  the  end  of  summer, 
less  than  a  year  old.  The  lower  figure  gives  the  outline  of  the  same 
fish,  as  seen  from  above.  Other  cuts  of  the  same  simple  description 
will  show  the  formation  of  the  head,  the  gill-covers  and  the  dental 


SALMONIDJE. 


87 


system,  from  which  after  the  fins,  and  the  number  of  vertebne,  the 
specific  distinctions  arc  most  easily  ascertained. 


It  will  be  seen  clearly,  at  the  slightest  inspection  of  the  beautiful 
little  fish  which  has  been  selected  as  the  subject  of  this  cut,  and  which 
is  a  species  of  Lake  Trout  from  the  continent  of  Europe,  that  it  has 
eight  fins  in  all,  including  the  tail,  six  of  which  are  displayed  in  the 
lateral  view,  two  being  on  the  farther  side ;  and  seven  in  the  view  of 
the  back  taken  from  above  ;  the  eighth,  which  is  indicated  by  a  dotted 
line,  being  on  the  under  part  of  the  fish.  ' 

Of  these  appendages,  by  which  the  motion,  position  in  the  water 
and  direction  of  the  animal  are  regulated ;  the  two  nearest  the  head, 
one  on  either  side,  a  a,  are  the  pectorals;  the  two  somewhat  farther 
back,  one  on  either  side,  bb,  are  the  ventrals;  the  one  on  the  under 
side,  yet  farther  back,  c,  the  anal;  the  tail,  d,  the  caudal;  and  the 
two  on  the  ridge  of  the  back,  ee,  the  dorsal ;  f  is  the  lateral  line. 

These  are  all  the  denominations  of  fins  possessed  by  any  fish, 
although  the  number  and  size,  as  well  as  the  structure,  vary  in  the 
various  species,  which  are  thus  easily  distinguished.  ' 

Of  these  fins,  all  the  classes  of  fish,  concerning  which  this  book  will 
treat,  with  one  exception,  the  apodal  Malacopterygii^  one  species  of 
which  will  be  slightly  mentioned,  all  possess  the  following : — 


38 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


Two  pectorals.         ''     '    "'  • 

Two  vcntrals. 

One  anal.  " 

One  caudal 

One  dorsal. 

No  fish  has  more  than  two  pectorals,  or  two  ventrals ;  many  have 
several  anals,  and  several  dorsals;  none,  unless  deformed  or  monstrous, 
bus  more  than  one  caudal. 

The  apodal  Malacopterygii^  of  which  I  have  spoken,  lack  the  ven- 
trals entirely;  wherefore  their  name  apodal^  footless;  the  ventral 
being  assumed  as  performing  the  function  of  feet  in  the  quadruped, 
although  somewhat  fancifully. 

Now,  on  the  texture  of  these  fins  is  founded  the  distinction  between 
the  two  first  orders  of  fishes,  as  instituted  by  Baron  Cuvier  ;  the  first 
order,  Acanthopterygii,  having  the  rays,  by  which  the  filamentous 
part  of  the  fins  is  supported  and  extended,  in  part  hard,  spinous,  and 
in  some  species,  sharp  and  prickly;  whence  the  designation;  "aca«- 
/Aos,"  signifying  a  thorn ;  while  the  second  order,  Malacoptcrygiiy  have 
these  rays  invariably  soft  and  flexible,  as  the  term,  derived  from 
"  malacoSy"  soft,  sufliciently  indicates. 

This  distinction  is  so  easily  drawn,  that  when  once  mentioned  it 
cannot  be  missed  or  overlooked  by  the  most  superficial  observer ;  and  as 
to  one  or  other  of  these  orders  belongs  every  fish,  without  an  excep- 
tion, of  which  the  sportsman  takes  cognizance — I  do  not  of  course 
include  shell-fisb — its  importance  is  self-evident. 

Of  the  spiny-finned  fishes,  though  there  are  many  families,  and  many 
species  of  each  family,  there  are  no  great  subordinate  divisions. 

Of  the  flexible-finned  fishes,  on  the  contrary,  there  are  three 
strongly-defined  divisions,  of  which  the  largest  is  that  containing 

The  abdominal  Malacopterygii ;  in  all  of  which  the  two  ventral 
fins,  BB,  are  situate  on  the  belly,  attached  to  the  walls  of  the  stomach, 
and  deriving  no  support  from  the  bones  of  the  shoulder.  To  this  divi- 
sion belongs,  a^ong  many  others,  the  subject  of  the  outline  cut  on 
page  37,  the  European  Lake  Trout ;  and,  as  a  consequence,  all  the 
family  of  the  Salmonida.  The  fishes  of  this  division  can  be  readily 
distinguished,  on  a  mere  external  examination,  by  the  fact  that  the 


SALMONIDA. 


3P 


ventral  fins,  an,  arc  situated  much  further  back  than  in  those  of  the 
next  division,  occupying  a  position  nearly  longitudinally  posterior  to 
the  pectorals,  a  a  ;  while  in  those  to  which  1  next  proceed,  thoy  are 
nearly  vertically  below  them. 

The  second  grand  division  of  tho  flexible-finned  fishes  consists  of 
the  Snh-brachial  Mahcopterygii;  in  all  of  which  tho  ventral  fins,  bb, 
are  placed  very  near  to  the  pectorals,  a  a,  the  bones  supporting  the 
former  being  attached  to  tho  bonos  of  tho  shoulder  which  support  tho 
latter.  The  term  sub-brachial  briefly  expresses  this  formation,  signi- 
fying "  having  lower  arms " — to  which  human  limb  the  reference  is 
pointed  by  the  connexion  of  the  fin,  in  this  division,  to  tho  shoulder. 

Tho  third  division  of  the  flexible-finned  fishes,  to  which  I  allude 
rather  to  complete  the  subject,  than  that  they  fall  regularly  into  tho 
angler's  way,  consists  of  those  designated  by  Baron  Cuvier  as  the 
Apodal  Mala  copter ygii ;  in  all  of  which  the  ventrals  are  entirely 
wanting.  To  this  division  belong  the  families  of  Muranidee,  and  An- 
guillidai,  Congers,  Eels,  and  their  congeners. 

First  then,  havi;  g  noted  whether  the  fish  we  desire  to  know  more 
minutely  has  hard  or  flexible  fin-rays,  and  then,  having  ascertained 
by  the  position  of  his  ventral  fins,  if  soft-finned,  to  which  division  he 
belongs,  by  examining  the  number  and  position,  as  well  as  the  texture 
of  the  dorsal  and  anal  fins,  we  shall  speedily  discover  his  family ;  or  if 
we  have  no  book  at  hand  to  which  we  can  refer,  -ve  can  easily  so 
describe  him  by  letter  to  some  competent  person,  as  will  enable  him 
readily  to  enlighten  us  on  the  subject. 

To  show  the  importance  of  possessing  even  tho  small  degree  of 
knowledge  conveyed  in  these  last  few  pages,  I  will  merely  observe 
that  if  the  settlers  of  the  shores  of  the  Otsego  had  been  even  so  far 
advanced  in  the  science,  they  had  not  committed  the  blunder  of  mis- 
naming the  excellent  fish  of  their  waters,  the  Otsego  Bass ;  when 
it  is  in  truth  one  of  the  Salmon  family — the  former  being  a  spiny,  the 
latter  a  soft-finned  family. 

A  few  steps  more  would  have  prevented  our  Southern  friends  from 
the  commission  of  the  absurdity  of  designating  a  variety  of  Weak- 
Fish  as  Trout — two  fish  which  have  not  the  most  remote  connexion ; 
and  so  on  ad  infinUvm. 


40 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


All  tho  family  of  Snlnwnida^  or  Salmons,  have  two  dorsal  fins,  as 
will  bo  obsorvod  in  tho  outlino  figuro  on  pago  37 ;  the  hinder  one  of 
which  has  no  raye,  but  is  merely  a  fleshy  or  fatty  appendage.  Had 
the  Otscgoites  known  this  simple  faet,  they  would  at  once  have  per- 
ceived that  their  fish  not  only  was  not  a  Boss,  but  was  a  Salmon.  And 
this  same  degree  of  attainment  would  have  prevented  the  application 
of  the  misnomer  I'rout  to  the  Weak-Fish.  I  havo  observed  this  very 
day,  in  the  columns  of  a  distinguished  weekly  journal,  an  ofi'cr  on  tho 
part  of  a  correspondent  to  describe  the  habits,  &o.,  of  tho  Susque- 
hannah  Salmon  !  There  being  notoriously  no  Salmon  in  that  or  any 
Southern  stream,  although  the  Brook  Trout  abound  in  its  upper 
waters,  I  venture  at  once  to  predict  that  this  Salmon  will  turn  out  to 
bo  tho  fish  described  by  DeKay  as  Lucioperca  Americana^  and  vari- 
ously called  Ohio  Salmon  and  Ohio  Pickerel ;  being  neither,  but  a 
species  of  the  Pearch  family,  with  one  spiny  dorsal  fin. 

I  hope  these  brief  facts  will  induce  sportsman  to  give  a  little  atten- 
tion to  this  subject ;  and  that  they  will  not  be  alarmed  by  the  harsh- 
ness or  apparent  difiiculty  of  a  few  foreign  terms,  nor  suflfer  themselves 
to  bo  deterred  by  a  mere  show  of  trouble  from  acquiring,  in  a  few 
minutes,  that  which  will  surely  give  them  years  of  gratification. 

More  direct  instruction  in  regard  to  the  mode  of  observation,  and 
the  point  to  be  observed,  will  be  given  under  the  head  of  each  par- 
ticular fish,  in  the  body  of  the  work  ;  but  I  will  here  point  out  that  it 
is  very  well  to  note  down  the  number  of  rays  severally  contained  in 
tho  pectoral,  ventral,  anal,  caudal,  and  dorsal  fins  of  any  fish  which  is 
suspected  of  being  an  undescribcd  or  distinct  variety ;  as  on  this,  as 
well  as  on  the  shape  of  these  appendages,  much  depends  in  distin- 
guishing individual  species  of  the  same  family. 

I  will  here,  in  corroboration  of  the  last  remark,  state  in  two  words, 
that  next  to  the  arrangement  of  the  gill-covers,  of  which  more  anon, 
tho  fact  on  which  Yarrel  relies  most  strongly  for  distinguishing  the 
BuU-Trout,  Salmo  Eriox^  from  the  true  Salmon,  Salmo  Salary  is 
this,  that  the  caudal  fin  of  the  former  is  convex,  while  that  of  the  latter 
is  more  or  less  concave,  or  forked,  in  proportion  to  the  age  of  the 
individual  fish. 

I  shall  now  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  gill-covers,  the  appa 


II     < 


•  / 


SALMONIDiE. 


41 


ratus  by  means  of  which  the  fish  brcathcB  ;  in  other  words,  by  which 
the  oxygon  ia  Hcparuted  from  th(>  water,  in  which  the  auiirial  exiHtH,  ns 
it  enters  by  tlio  mouth  and  passos  out  at  the  aporturo  of  the  gi!U,  con- 
veying its  influence  to  tho  blood  in  its  passage. 

This  apparatus  being  of  course  of  tho  highest  degree  of  importance 
to  the  animal,  varies  in  form  and  structure  according  to  the  various 
exigencies  of  tho  different  species  to  which  it  is  attached  ;  and  it  is 
therefore  of  great  value  to  the  observer  in  distinguishing  one  family, 
and  even  one  species  of  the  same  family,  from  another. 

With  regard  to  tho  family  of  which  we  are  now  treating,  the  Sal' 
monidfCj  beyond  all  question  tho  most  important  and  most  interesting 
to  tho  sportsman,  as  being  the  gamcst,  boldest,  and  strongest  of  all 
the  fish  with  which  he  has  to  do,  and  to  the  epicure  likewise,  as  afford- 
ing the  greatest  varieties  of  the  most  delicious  food,  the  remarks  I  am 
about  to  make  have  especial  application. 

Of  no  other  family  known  to  tho  sportsman,  arc  tho  species  oo 
numerous,  and  so  difficult  of  definition  ;  and  not  only  the  truly  distinct 
species,  but  tho  subordinato  varieties,  produced  in  the  same  species 
by  difference  of  food,  of  water,  of  bottom-ground  in  the  lakes  or  rivers 
haunted  by  each,  and  even  by  the  degrees  of  light  or  shadow  which 
affects  the  localities  which  they  haunt.  These  varieties,  often  differ- 
ing by  many  pounds'  weight,  colors  in  tho  broadest  sense  of  the  word, 
not  tints  or  shades  of  hue,  quality  of  flesh,  and  shape,  are  by  no  means 
to  be  set  down  as  distinct  and  permanent  species  ;  for  it  will  be  found 
that  a  transposition  of  these  from  one  place  to  another,  and  even  the 
regular  course  of  reproduction,  will  bring  them  back  to  tho  original  or 
normal  type. 

What  strikes  us,  moreover,  at  first  sight,  as  in  no  small  degree 
singular,  is  tho  fact,  that  different  varieties  of  one  spocies  will  very 
frequently  differ  more  widely  from  one  another,  and  from  the  original 
typo,  so  far  as  those  externals  which  strike  the  mere  superficial  obser- 
ver, than  entirely  distinct  and  immutable  species.  ^ 

This  it  is  which  so  often  loads  common  and  vulgar-minded  persons, 

who  are  in  the  habit  of  boasting  that  they  believe  their  own  eyes  only, 

and  resorting  to  other  absurdities  of  that  kind,  and  who  will  not  take 

the  trouble  of  connecting  causes  and  effects,  or  considering  logical 

4 


',sf»M- 1  l»«|l«>MHtgiM|W..aiWN 


a 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


consoquonces,  to  disregard,  and  even  to  hold  in  contempt,  the  teach- 
ings of  scientific  men,  as  mere  theoretical  dreamers,  useless  coiners 
of  hard  terms,  and  founders  of  distinctions,  founded  upon  no  difference. 

Such,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is  too  often  the  habit  of  sportsmen  ;  who 
will  frequently  give  ear  to  the  superstitious  and  absurd  garrulity  of 
some  rustic  ignoramus,  who  pronounces  his  absolute  yea  or  nay  upon 
some  fact  about  which  he  is  utterly  ignorant,  and  who  has  no  earthly 
qualification  for  judging  on  the  qualities  of  the  bird,  beast,  or  fish  in 
question,  than  that  of  having  seen  it  so  often  that  he  ought  to  know 
something  about  it,  which  he  does  not ;  while  they  turn  away  contemp- 
tuously, or  listen  coldly  to  the  teachings  of  the  man,  whose  arguments 
are  founded  upon  facts  that  cannot  err,  upon  deductions  drawn  from 
differences  of  anatomical  structure,  permanent  from  generation  to  gene- 
ration, and  liable  to  no  modification  by  the  change  of  external  circum- 
stances. 

This  it  is  which  renders  the  structure  of  the  fins,  the  shape  of  the 
gills,  the  system  of  the  teeth,  and  other  matters  of  the  same  kind, 
which  pass  wholly  unnoticed  by  the  clod-hopping  hunter,  of  all  import- 
ance ii*  distinguishing  one  species  from  another  ;  while  the  size,  the 
weight,  the  color  and  number  of  the  spots,  things  to  which  he  will 
point  as  decisive  with  all  the  pig-headed  presumption  of  self-conceited 
ignorance,  are  of  little,  if  any  weight,  as  varying  in  individuals,  and 
not  transmitted,  like  to  like,  through  generations.  '  ■     '^ "  '    '  ' 

Almost  all  the  really  distinct  species  of  the  Salmonidee  are  distin- 
guished principally  one  from  another  by  the  form  of  the  head  and  the 
structure  of  the  gills  in  the  first  degree,  and  by  the  dental  system  in 
the  second.  Any  permanent  and  unvarying  difference  in  these, 
coupled  to  other  variations  of  color,  form,  habit,  or  the  like,  which 
might  otherwise  be  deemed  casual,  being  held  sufficient  to  constitute 
a  distinct  species. 

Many  discoveries  have  been  made  through  these  means  of  late  years , 
many  varieties,  which  were  formerly  supposed  to  be  truly  distinct, 
having  been  proved  to  be  identical ;  and  many  new  species  discovered 
— the  tendency  of  the  whole  having  been  to  simplify,  and  to  diminish 
the  number  of  species,  in  the  upshot,  and  thereby  to  decrease  the 
labors  of  the  student,  and  to  facilitate  the  acquisition  of  science. 


/ 


SALMONIDJE. 


43 


Much,  however,  yet  remains  to  be  done,  as  will  be  rendered  evident 
by  the  conHideration  that,  even  in  so  circumscribed  a  territory  as  Great 
Britain,  every  water  of  which  has  been  explored,  and,  it  may  bo  pre- 
sumed, almost  every  fish  submitted  to  the  examination  of  scientific 
men,  groat  doubts  yet  exist  concevning  many  forms,  especially  of  this 
family  of  Salmonida,  whether  they  are  absolutely  distinct,  or  merely 
casual  varieties,  incapable  of  reproduction. 

In  this  country,  with  its  boundless  lakes  and  gigantic  rivers — all 
those  to  the  northward  and  eastward,  and  all  those  feeding  the  tribu- 
taries, or  lying  in  the  vast  basin, of  the  St,  Lawrence,  as  well  as  all 
those  on  the  western  or  Pacific  coast,  flowing  down  through  the  Sacra- 
mento and  Columbia,  or  wasting  in  the  arid  sands  or  wet  morasses  of 
the  Great  Central  Basin,  all  teeming  with  varieties,  perhaps  distinct 
species  of  the  Salmon — ^whatavast,what  an  unexplored  field  for  the 
sportsman,  the  naturalinit ;  and  how  doubly  charming  for  him  who  unites 
in  one  individual  both  capacities.  But  two  distinct  varieties  of  the 
American  Lake  Trout,  or  at  the  most  three,  are  as  yet  made  out — for 
I  think  it  doubtful  whether  there  be  any  positive  grounds  on  which  to 
establish  a  distinction  between  the  Salmo  Confinis  of  DeKay,  known 
in  the  Eastern  States  and  New  York  as  the  common  Lake  Trout,  and 
the  Salmo  Amelhyslut  of  Mitchil,  known  as  the  Mackinaw  Salmon. 
The  Salmo  Sinkawitz  of  Aoassiz,  discovered  in  the  course  of  the  past 
summer  in  lakes  Superior  and  Huron,  is  clearly  a  marked  and  perma- 
nent species.  That  there  is  yet  one  other  distinct  species,  the  Sebago 
Lake  Trout,  I  fully  believe,  but  only  having  heard  of  it  by  oral 
description,  I  dare  not  take  upon  myself,  without  examination  and 
comparison,  to  decide  the  question. 

Again  ;  another  huge  fish  is  constantly  mentioned  as  taken  at  times 
m  the  lakes  of  Hamilton  county,  in  New  York,  which,  if  it  be  not,  as 
[  believe  it  is,  a  gigantic  casual  variety  of  the  common  Brook  Trout. 
Salmo  Fontinalit,  is  certainly  a  distinct  fish. 

A  slight  examination  of  the  gills,  teeth,  and  fins,  will  at  once  settle 
this  point. 

Of  the  common  Trout,  but  one  species  is  as  yet  firmly  ascertained, 
unless  th«  Red-bellied  Trout,  Salmo  Erythrogaster,  of  DeKay,  prove 
to  be  a  distinct  form ;  which  I,  for  one,  do  not  at  all  believe.  The 
Troutlct  of  that  author  is  merely  the  young  of  the  common  Trout. 


'mmmmm>mmm»Mdmt'^f« 


44 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


Whether  there  exists  a  Salmon  Trout  or  Silver  Trout,  Salmo  Trutta 
Marina,  at  all  in  American  waters,  apart  from  the  Salmon-peal,  Grilse 
and  common  Trout,  having  access  to  salt-water,  likewise  remains  to 
be  proved,  by  the  aid  of  those  easy  methods  of  examination,  the  use  of 
which  I  so  earnestly  desire  to  impress  upon  my  friends  and  fellow- 
sportsmen,  not  merely  as  an  aid  to  science,  but  as  an  immense  addition 
to  their  own  individual  gratification,  when  in  pursuit  of  their  finny 
prey  by  the  wild  margin  of  some  far  woodland  lake,  or  on  the  rocky 
borders  of  some  lone  torrent  of  the  wilderness. 

That  many  new  species,  entirely  unsuspected  and  undescibed,  still 
remain  to  be  found  and  recorded  in  our  waters,  I  hold  to  be  undoubted ; 
when  they  will  be  discovered,  or  by  whom,  is  another  question ;  for  1 
regret  to  say  it,  as  yet  the  spirit  of  science,  and  the  desire  to  facili- 
tate and  assist  the  inquiries  of  the  man  of  letters,  has  scarcely  pene- 
trated the  breasi  of  the  American  sportsman ;  and  while,  in  England 
and  on  the  European  Continent,  many  the  most  distinguished  corres- 
pondents of  the  literary  and  scientific  institutions  of  those  lands  are 
sportsmen,  who  have  contributed  most  highly  to  the  advancement  of 
knowledge  by  their  investigations,  experiments  and  contributions,  we 
can,  on  this  side,  alas !  point  to  but  two  or  three  of  the  sporting  frater- 
nity who  have  cared  to  record  themselves  as  anything  more  than  killers 
of  animals ;  of  the  habits,  characteristics,  and  even  names  of  which 
they  are  but  too  often  grossly  ignorant.  '         .. 

A  few  there  are,  it  is  true,  who  aspire  to  higher  things,  and  who 
are  actuated  by  something  more  than  the  mere  love  of  killing,  the 
mere  ambition  of  boasting  of  bag ;  and  among  these,  may  their  num- 
ber increase  daily!  it  will  not,  I  hope,  be  deemed  impertinent  to 
specify  the  author  of  "  The  Birds  of  Long  Island,"  who,  from  a  sports- 
man of  no  secondary  skill  or  energy,  has  successfully  aspired  to  the 
honors  of  a  naturalist;  and  has  most  deservedly  acquired,  as  such,  no 
small  degree  of  celebrity  and  favor. 

From  this  short  excursion,  into  which  I  have  been  naturally  led 
in  the  course  of  my  subject,  I  return  to  the  description  of  the  gill- 
covers  of  fish,  and  thereafter  to  the  dental  system,  the  method  of  com- 
paring which  I  shall  lay  down  briefly  for  the  uso  of  the  learner,  and 
then  proceed  at  once  to  the  history  of  sporting-fishes. 


8ALM0NID.a!. 


45 


The  subject,  which  I  now  present,  is  the  head  of  the  Silver  Trout 
of  Europe,  Salmo  LacustriSj  a  species  found  in  the  large  lakes  of  that 
continent.  The  figure  is  copied,  by  permission,  from  Professor 
Agassi z'  great  work  on  the  "  Fresh-water  Fishes  of  Central  Europe." 


5     c^'' 


The  gill-covers  of  all  the  fishes  of  the  three  first  divisions,  with 
which  alone  we  have  to  do,  consist  of  four  principal  parts,  and  th'eir  use 
is  to  close  the  aperture  behind  the  gills,  which  in  all  these  three 
divisions  is  so  formed,  and  so  freely  or  loosely  suspended,  that  the 
water  bathes  in  its  passage  every  part  of  their  surface.  ♦ 

These  parts  are,  the  pre-operculum,  or  fore-gill-cover.  No.  1 ;  the 
operculum^  or  gill-cover  proper,  No.  2 ;  the  siib-operculumj  or  under- 
gill-cover,  No.  3 ;  and  the  iiUer-opercuhm^  or  intermediate  gill-cover. 
No.  4.  The  branchiostegous  rays,  as  they  are  termed,  are  indicated 
by  No.  5 ;  and  the  fixed  plates,  forming  the  posterior  immovable  mar- 
gin of  the  gill-covers,  by  No.  6.  N.  7.  indicates  the  pectoral  fin. 

How  widely  these  parts  differ  in  form,  in  different  species  of  the 
Salmon  tribe,  will  become  at  once  apparent  by  a  comparison  between 
the  gill-covers  in  the  figure  above,  and  those  of  the  true  Salmon,  Sal- 
mo Salar,  and  the  BuU-Trout,  Salmo  ErioXy  Nos.  2  and  3,  on  the 
following  cut,  which,  with  these,  presents  a  view  of  the  interior  of  the 
mouth  and  the  dental  system  of  the  common  Trout,  Salmo  Farioj  of 
Great  Britain. 


mmmmmmmmammm 


»iMmint-%u:f. 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


>  -" 


In  figure  2  of  this  cut,  representing  the  gill-cover  of  the  true 
Salmon,  it  will  strike  any  casual  observer  that  the  hinder  margin  of 
the  whole  covering  forms  nearly  a  semicircle,  while  that  of  No.  3,  the 
Bull  Trout,  approaches  more  nearly  to  a  rectangular  figure.  In  the. 
former,  the  pre-operculum,  fore-gill-cover,  a,  differs  from  the  same 
part,  similarly  marked,  in  No.  3,  it  being  more  rectilinear;  while  the 
opercnlum.,  gill-cover  proper,  b,  of  the  former  slopes  hindward  and 
backward;  the  same  portion,  b,  in  No.  3,  cutting  in  a  horizontal  line 
upon  the  joints  of  the  sub-operciUiim  and  inter'Operculum. 

And  in  all  respects  both  differ  entirely  from  the  arrangement  of 
the  same  parts  in  the  head  of  the  Silver  Trout,  exhibited  in  the  cut  last 
preceding  at  page  45.  '     "   '  •' 

The  most  striking  consequence  of  these  differences  is,  that  a  straight 
line,  drawn  backward  from  the  front  teeth  of  the  upper  jaw,  the 
mouth  being  closed,  to  the  longest  posterior  projection  of  the  gill- 
cover,  will ,  in  the  three  fish,  run  at  a  totally  different  angle  to  the 
horizontal  line  of  the  body ;  and  will  occupy  an  entirely  different  situ- 
ation in  respect  to  the  eye ;  such  a  lino  in  the  head  of  the  Salmon, 
Salvia  Salar,  and  in  the  Silver  Trout,  Salmo  Lamstris,  passing  close 
below  the  orbit  of  the  eye ;  while  in  that  of  the  Bull  Trout,  Salmo 
ErioXy  it  will  run  obliquely  very  far  below  it.  '■"     '•' 

This  distinction  is  very  easy  of  observation,  and  is  extremely  im- 
portant in  the  definition  of  species ;  as  indeed  is  everything  connected 


'  t  i    r  V  ji  i  ,i  * 


SALMONIDJC. 


47 


with  the  form  and  poculiarities  of  tho  hcud,  not  forgetting  its  relative 
proportion  to  the  entire  length  of  tho  body. 

Of  no  less  value  is  tho  arrangcmoat  of  the  teeth  in  the  different 
classes,  families  and  species  of  fish ;  there  being,  on  this  point,  infinitily 
greater  variety  than  can  be  imagined  by  persons  who  have  given  their 
attention  only  to  the  structure  of  quadrupeds. 

"  Tho  teeth,"  says  Mr.  Yarrei.,  in  tho  introduction  to  his  fine  work 
on  P^itish  Fishes — from  which  I  have  taken  tho  liberty  of  borrowing 
the  la^t  cut,  descriptive  of  the  gill-covers  and  dental  system  of  the 
Salmon,  BuU-Trout,  and  common  Trout — ^"  of  fishos  are  so  constant, 
as  well  as  permanent  in  their  characters,  as  to  be  worthy  of  particular 
attention.  In  the  opinion  of  tho  best  icthyologists,  they  are  second 
only  to  the  fins,  which  in  their  number,  situation,  size  and  form,  arc 
admitted  to  be  of  first-rate  importance. 

'^  Some  fishes  have  teeth  attached  to  all  tho  bones  that  assist  in  form- 
ing the  cavity  of  the  mouth  and  pharynx,  to  the  intermaxillary,  the 
maxillary,  and  palatine  bones,  the  vomer,  the  tongue,  the  branchial 
arches  supporting  tho  gills,  and  tho  pharyngeal  bones.  Sometime:! 
the  teeth  are  uniform  in  shape  on  the  various  bones,  at  others  differing, 
One  or  more  of  these  bones  are  sometimes  without  teeth  of  any  sort ; 
and  there  are  fishes  that  have  no  teeth  whatever  on  any  of  them.  The 
teeth  are  named  according  to  the  bones  upon  which  they  arc  placed; 
and  are  referred  to,  as  maxillary,  intermaxillary,  palatine,  vomerine, 
&c. — depending  upon  their  position. 

"  A  reference  to  page  46,  will  show  the  situation  of  the  teeth  in  the 
Trout,  with  five  rows  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  mouth,  and  four 
rows  below;  the  particular  bones  upon  which  these  rows  are  placed, 
are  also  referred  to."     -     i^  ." 

Mr.  Yarrel  then  proceeds  to  descant,  somewhat  too  largely  for 
extraction  in  a  work  of  this  description,  on  the  form,  position  and  usos 
of  the  various  teeth  in  different  families  of  fishes ;  but  the  gist  of  his 
remarks  I  prefer  combining  under  the  heads  of  the  various  fishes  to 
which  they  belong;  and  I  shall  only  add  here,  that  in  some  species 
the  teeth  are  arranged  as  in  the  Salmonida,  in  duplicate  or  triplicate 
rows  of  single  teeth ;  in  others  in  dannc  patches,  occupying  sometimes 
the  greater  part  of  the  palate,  sot  like  the  bristles  on  a  shoe-brush,  as 
ui  the  Esocidte  or  Pike  family;  and  again  in  others,  as  the  species 


48 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


Lahrax^  of  the  family  Percida,  to  which  belongs  our  own  noble  Striped 
Bass,  they  cover  the  whole  tongue,  besides  being  thickly  set  on  the 
palate. 

The  position  and  shape  of  these  teeth  indicate  as  clearly  the  habits, 
mode  of  feeding,  and  the  food,  of  the  various  families  to  which  they 
belong,  as  do  the  teeth  of  the  carnivorous,  ruminating,  or  gnawing 
quadrupeds  inform  the  naturalist  whether  the  creature,  of  which  the 
jaw-bone  only  lies  before  him,  fed  on  animal  substances,  on  grass,  on 
grain,  or  on  the  bark  and  hard-shelled  nuts  of  trees ;  or  as  the  beaks 
and  bills  of  birds  tell  the  experienced  looker-on  whether  the  owner 
was  a  bird  of  prey,  an  insect-eating  warbler,  or  a  grain-cracker. 

The  distinction,  therefore,  which  is  founded  upon  the  difference  of 
the  teeth  in  different  fishes,  is  by  no  means  fanciful,  or  resorted  to 
merely  to  enable  naturalists  to  display  their  ingenuity  in  making 
definitions,  and  multiplying  species,  as  many  people  stolidly  imagine; 
but  is  real  and  permanent,  as  representing  the  great  sub-divisions  of 
the  dwellers  of  the  waters,  as  those  which  feed  on  living,  those  which 
feed  on  dead  animals  of  their  own  species,  as  insect-eaters,  or  mas- 
ticators of  hard  shell-fish,  and  so  forth,  unto  the  end.  Differences, 
which  even  the  most  bigotted  enemy  of  scientific  distinctions  must 
admit  to  be  as  real,  and  true  in  nature,  as  those  between  the  tiger  and 
the  wolf,  the  ox  that  chews  his  cud,  and  the  horse  which  fattens  at  the 


manger. 


I  have  known  a  sage  coroner  in  England,  who  was  wont  to  indulge 
in  sapient  ridicule  of  the  learned  professions,  and  to  sneer  at  anatomi- 
cal and  physiological  distinctions,  who  gravely  sat  in  inquest  over 
.some  exhumed  bones,  and  solemnly  recorded  a  verdict  of  wilful  murder 
against  some  person  or  persons  unknown,  the  skeleton,  when  examined, 
turning  out  to  be  that  of  a  defunct  cow. 

Such  instances  are  becoming,  I  am  happy  to  say,  rare,  as  regards 
men  in  general,  and  those  sciences  which  regard  the  human  race, 
and  domestic  animals.  Why  it  should  not  be  so  with  the  sports- 
man, I  know  not ;  but  too  true  it  is,  that  most  of  that  fraternity  obsti- 
nately adhere  to  ancient  error,  even  when  it  is  clearly  pointed  out ; 
and  attompt  to  ridicule  the  man  of  letters  as  a  mere  theorist,  and 
unpractical,  for  attempting  to  correct  them  in  their  blunders  of 
nomenclature,  whereby  they  confuse  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth,  the 


i 


/■ 


8ALM0NID£. 


49 


air,  and  the  water,  and  all  the  things  that  have  life,  whether  animal 
or  vegetable,  therein. 

Little  are  they  aware  how  fantastic  are  the  tricks  which  they  play, 
"  like  angry  apes  before  high  heaven,"  in  the  eyes  of  all  those,  whether 
naturalists  or  sportsmen,  who  do  not  confound  conceit  with  knowledge, 
or  wit  with  impertinent  vulgarity. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  a  few  obser'">+ion8  with  regard  to  the  figure 
No.  1,  in  the  last  wood-cut,  "-  pa^  '.  which  represents  '' "  ^nts- 
rior  of  the  mouth,  opened  to  vue  utmuat.,  of  the  common  i^out  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  European  continent,  Salmo  Forio;  which  is 
selected  by  Mr,  Yarrel  as  "showing" — to  borrow  his  own  words — 
"tho  most  complete  series  of  teeth  among  the  Salmonidce  ;  and  the 
value  of  the  arrangement,  as  instruments  for  seizure  and  prehension, 
arising  from  the  interposition  of  the  different  rows,  the  four  lines  of 
teeth  on  the  lower  surface  alternating,  when  the  mouth  is  closed,  with 
the  five  rows  on  the  upper  surface,  those  on  the  vomer  shutting  in 
between  the  two  rows  on  the  tongue,"  &c. 

In  this  cut,  letter  a  represents  the  situation  of  the  row  of  teeth  that 
is  fixed  on  the  central  bone  of  the  roof  of  the  mouth,  called  the  vomer, 
from  some  fancied  resemblance  to  the  share  of  a  plough,  for  which 
the  word  used  is  the  Latin  term ;  bb,  refer  to  the  teeth  on  the  right 
and  left  palatine  bones;  c,  to  the  row  of  hooked  teeth  on  each  side  of 
the  tongue ;  dd,  to  the  row  of  teeth  outside  the  palatine  bones,  on  the 
upper  jaw,  which  are  those  of  the  superior  maxillary  bones;  and  ee, 
to  the  outside  row  on  the  maxillary  bones  of  the  lower  jaw. 

Now  it  will  readily  be  understood  what  is  the  importance  of  exam- 
ining carefully  this  system  of  teeth,  in  the  different  varieties  of  the 
salmon  family,  whether  called  Salmon,  Salmon  Trout,  Lake  Trout, 
Brook  Trout,  or  any  other  local  name  whatsoever ;  when  it  is  stated 
that  the  distinct  species  are  very  strongly  and  permanently  indicated 
by  the  number  of  teeth  found  in  each  upon  the  vomer,  central  bone 
of  the  roof  the  mouth.  ^,      >    ;     ^  ;    < 

In  the  true  Salmon,  the  teeth  on  the  vomer  very  rarely  exceed 
two ;  and  sometimes  there  is  but  one. 

In  the  Bull-Trout,  the  teeth  are  longer  and  stronger  than  those  of 
the  true  Salmon;  but,  like  that  fish,  he  has  but  two,  or  at  most  three 
teeth  on  the  vomer ;  he  is  distinguished,  according  to  the  authorities, 


00 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


by  the  different  formation  of  his  gill-covers,  and  the  convex  form  of 
his  caudal  fin,  whence  he  is  said  to  be  termed  the  Round-tail  in  the 
river  Annan,  in  Scotland.     This  fish  is  unknown  in  America,  and  is 
'  merely  mentioned  for  the  sake  of  example  and  illustration. 

In  the  Salmon  Trout  of  Great  Britain,  Salmo  IVutia  Lin.^  a  mi- 
gratory fish,  growing  to  a  very  large  size,  the  teeth  extend  nearly  the 
whole  length  of  the  vomer,  thereby  establishing  a  distinction  between 
this  and  the  two  aforenamed  species. 

Of  the  common  Trout,  we  have  already  seen  the  dental  arrange- 
ment. In  the  two  distinct  varieties  of  Lake  Trout,  recognised  by 
authorities  in  Great  Britain,  which  are  non-migratory,  and  analogous 
to  our  Lake  Trout ;  viz — 

In  the  Great  Gray  Trout,  or  Loch  Awe  Trout,  Salmo  Ferox^  which 
is  common  to  most  of  the  large  Scottish  and  Irish  inland  waters,  and 
which  is  pronounced  by  Mr.  Agassiz  to  be  distinct  from  any  of  the 
continental  Lake  Trout, — these  teeth  extend  along  the  whole  length  of 
the  vomer. 

And  in  the  Lochleven  Trout,  Salmo  Levenensis,  five  Cacifer^  Walk- 
er and  Palmer,  if  it  be  a  distinct  species  from  the  common  Trout, 
Salmo  Fario,  as  appears  to  be  conceded — although  I  must  say  I  doubt 
it,  as  I  do  the  Gillaroo,  which,  however,  is  more  doubtful — there  are 
thirteen  teeth  on  the  vomer,  extending  through  its  whole  length. 

It  would  be  well,  indeed,  if  American  anglers  would  take  a  little 
pains  about  the  examination  of  these  points,  and  would  note  them  down 
in  their  tablets — in  which,  doubtless,  they  insert  the  weight  of  their 
captives — together  with  the  relative  proportion  of  the  length  of  the 
head  to  that  of  the  entire  body ;  the  form  of  the  gill-covers ;  and  rela- 
tive position  of  the  eye  to  a  line  drawn  from  the  front  teeth  to  the 
lower  posterior  angle  of  the  operculum  or  suboperculum,  as  it  may  be ; 
the  number  of  rays  in  each  of  the  several  fins ;  and  especially  the  form 
of  the  caudal  fin-tail — whether  forked,  concave,  square,  or  convex. 

A  very  few  memoranda  on  such  points  as  these,  accurately  recorded, 
and  assisted,  where  prarticablc,  by  the  roughest  sketch,  would  be  of 
greater  utility  to  the  cause  of  science,  than  can  be  readily  imagined ; 
and  we  should  undoubtedly  soon  arrive  at  facts  of  great  importance, 
and  perhaps  discover  some  new  and  interesting  species  of  this  most 
interesting  family 


SALMONID^. 


51 


At  all  events,  we  should  not  bo  tantalized  by  information  so  vague 
and  indefinite  as  that  convoyed  in  a  note  to  the  appendix,  contributed 
by  the  members  of  the  Pi83co  club  to  Dr.  Betiiune,  for  the  beautiful 
and  valuable  edition  of  Walton's  Angler  recently  given  to  the  Ameri- 
can world — with  notes  on  American  fishing,  the  only  fault  of  which 
is  their  brevity — by  that  accomplished  fisherman  and  erudite  scholar, 
who  takes  no  shame  to  be  held  a  follower  of  the  gentle  art,  and  to 
possess  the  finest  piscatorial  library  owned  in  the  United  States, 
whether  by  private  individual  or  collective  body. 

"  In  June  of  this  year,"  says  the  not3  to  which  I  have  reference, 
"  the  president  of  this  club  killed  a  red-JksAcd  Lake  Trout  of  24  lbs. 
weight !"     And  no  more ! 

Information  of  the  same  kind  has  been  given  to  me  by  Mr.  C.  Web- 
ber, the  author  of  some  pleasant  letters  on  Hamilton  County  B'ishing, 
published  during  the  past  year  in  the  columns  of  the  New  York 
Courier  and  Enquirer ;  but,  unfortunately,  none  of  the  fortunate  takers 
have  noted  any  points  relative  to  this  fish,  on  which  any  deliberate 
opinion  can  be  formed. 

The  flesh  of  the  ordinary  Lake  Trouts  of  America,  CmifiniSy  Ame-  , 
tkystus,  and  Siskawitz^  are  all  pale,  dingy,  yellowish  buflF,  tasteless, 
coarse,  muddy,  and  flaccid. 

It  seems  to  be  admitted  that  the  red-fleshed  Lake  Trout  is  of  more 
brilliant  external  coloring  than  the  common  variety. 

This  is  the  fish  of  which  I  have  spoken  at  page  43,  as  being  un-^ 
questionably  a  distinct  species,  if  not  an  overgrown  and  gigantic  variety 
of  the  Brook  Trout,  Salmo  Fontinali$.  This  latter,  I  believe  to  bo 
the  case;  though  it  is  impossible  to  pronounce  positively,  without 
seeing  the  fish,  and  instituting  careful  comparison.    •/!,).;   .v.;  '..    ■=..(;  r: 

The  fishermen  of  that  district,  on  the  lake,  assert,  I  understand, 
positively  that  this  is  not  the  case ;  but  of  course  their  opinion  is  utterly 
valueless,  being  founded  on  some  such  admirable  reason  as  that  the 
Brook  Trout  never  grows  to  be  above  five  or  six  pounds ;  meaning 
only  that  they  have  never  seen  what  they  take  to  be  one  over  that 
average.  Just  in  the  same  manner,  a  person  used  to  take  fish  only  in 
the  small  mountain  brooks  of  Maine,  NeW  Hampshire,  or  Vermont, 
might  tell  you  quite  as  plausibly,  quite  as  positively,  and  quite  as 
truthfully — so  far  as  his  miserable  experience  of  truth  goes — that  the 


52 


AMERICAN  FISHEb. 


Brook  Trout  Uo'vor  grows  to  bo  above  half  a  pound — nor  doi^s  it  in 
his  waters. 

The  common  Trout  of  England,  Salmo  Fario^  which  is  so  clo«''ly 
connected  with  our  Brook  Trout,  Salvia  Fontinalis,  as  to  bo  constantly 
mistaken  for  it  by  casual  observers,  is  continually  taken  in  the  larger 
rivers,  especially  the  Thames,  and  in  some  of  the  Irish  waters,  from 
ten  to  fifteen  pounds  in  weight.  Mr.  Yarrel,  when  preparing  his 
British  Fishes,  had  a  minute  before  him  uf  six  Trout  taken  in  tho 
Thames,  above  Oxford,  by  minnow-spinning,  which  weighed  together 
fifty-four  pounds,  the  largest  weighing  thirteen  pounds ;  and  one  is 
recorded  in  the  transactions  of  the  Linnaoan  Society  as  having  been 
taken  on  the  1st  of  January,  1822,  in  a  little  stream  ten  feet  wide, 
branching  from  the  Avon  at  the  back  of  Castle-street,  Salisbury,  which 
on  being  taken  out  of  the  water  was  found  to  weigh  twenty-five  pounds. 

These  instances,  which  are  beyond  dispute,  in  relation  to  a  species 
so  closely  related  to  our  fish  as  the  Salmo  Farioy  render  it  anything 
but  improbable  that  it  too,  in  favorable  situations,  should  grow  to  an 
equal  size ;  nor  is  there  any  reason  for  doubting  it,  since  it  is  known  to 
grow  to  the  weight  of  five  or  six  pounds,  within  a  few  ounces  of  whicli 
latter  weight  I  have  myself  seen  it ;  and  there  is  no  natural  or  phy- 
sical analogy  by  which  we  should  set  that  weight  as  the  limit  to  its 
increase.  •  . 

Should  these  remarks  call  the  attention  of  sportsmen  to  a  matter  of 
Jeep  interest,  and  elicit  from  them  occasional  records  of  cxannna- 
tions,  which  none  can  institute  so  well  as  they,  their  end  will  be  fully 
answered,  and  these  pages  will  not  have  been  thrown  away. 

We  now  come  at  once  to  the  history  of  this  family,  and  first,  as  best,, 
to  that  of  the  true  Salmon. 

This  being  the  noblest  and  most  game  in  its  character  of  all  fishes, 
as  I  have  observed  before,  once  abounding  in  all  waters  eastward  of 
the  Hudson,  and  still,  though  it  has  now  ceased  to  exist  in  numbers, 
west  of  the  Penobscot,  and  even  there  can  be  rarely  taken  with  the 
fly,  is  still  the  choicest  pursuit  of  the  American  angler,  although  he 
may  be  now  compelled  to  seek  it  in  the  difiicult  and  uncleared  basins 
of  the  Nova  Scotian  rivers ;  in  the  Northern  tributaries  of  the  huge 
St.  Lawrence ;  or  yet  farther  to  the  Westward,  in  the  streams  of  the 
Columbia  and  the  cold  torronts  of  Oregon,  all  of  which  contain  the 


I    8AI.M0NID£.  00 

truL>  Salmon,  with  many  other  noble  and  diHtinct  varieties,  in  un- 
equalled numbers. 

Of  this  glorious  fish,  of  its  generation,  migrations,  growth,  und  habits, 
80  much  has  been  discovered  within,  comparatively  spouking,  a  few 
years,  that  i  am  enabled  to  presont  a  considerable  number  of  facts, 
which  will  bo  doubtless  new  to  many  of  my  readers,  and  which  may 
be  received  as  a.seertained  and  authontieated  beyond  the  possibility  of 
doubt. 


^4 


AMKRIOAN    FISHES. 


AUDOMINAL 
MALACOI'TERYOII. 


SALMON  I DX 


I 


% 


^i/-^;? 


Salmom  Pinkii  up  10  ilz  montbt  old. 

♦ 

THE  SALMON. 

Tme    COMMON    SALMON,    THE    TRUE    SALMON 

PiNKi  first  year,  Smolt,  second  year.  Peal'  or  Griub,  second  autumn, — Salmo 
Salar,  Auotoruh,  British  Fishes,  vol.  ii.  p.  1.     PeKay,  vol.  iv. 

Although  this  noble  fish  has  never  been  made  the  subject,  so  far 
as  I  know,  of  any  of  the  strange  and  monstrous  fables  which  have 
obtained  concerning  many  others  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  waters — as 
for  instance  the  Pike,  of  which  old  Izuak  tells  us,  "  it  is  not  to  be 
doubted,  but  that  they  are  bred,  some  by  generation,  and  some  not, 
as  namely,  of  a  weed  called  pickerel-weed,  unless  learned  Gessner 
bo  much  mistaken  ;  for  he  says,  this  weed  and  other  glutinous  matter, 
with  the  help  of  the  sun's  heat,  in  some  particular  months,  and  some 
ponds  adapted  for  it  by  nature,  do  become  Pikes" — still,  until  within 
the  last  few  years,  very  little  has  been  known  with  certainty  concerning 
him  in  his  infancy,  and  during  the  earlier  stages  of  his  growth. 

"  The  Salmon,"  says  Izaak  Walton,  "  is  accounted  the  king  of 
fresh-water  fish,  and  is  ever  bred  in  rivers  rela^ng  to  the  sea,  yet  so 
high  or  far  from  it  as  to  admit  no  tincture  of  salt  or  brackishncss.  He 
is  said  to  breed  or  cast  his  spawn,  in  most  rivers,  in  the  month  of 


ll 


lONID.E. 


^ 


mn.—Salintt 
iv. 

bject,  SO  far 
which  have 
I  waters — as 
is  not  to  be 
I  some  not, 
led  Gessner 
nous  matter, 
IS,  and  some 
,  until  within 
;y  concerning 
lowth. 

the  king  of 
he  sea,  yet  so 
[ishness.  He 
the  month  of 


-in 

.V 

c 

5r 


rn 


o 

CO 


> 


>.■«►«««>■  J<i.U**««^^»^  .^ 


'»a#««««>Wto.V*«M»..- ,  • 


$  + 


AMKRIC.VN    Kl*'! 


^i"H)NJI).E, 


i^' 


:-> 


ff";- 


.,M.iJ-^i^ 


rA»^- 


rilE  SALMOiN. 


TlJf   :C:.GitMON    JfALMOK,    THF,,  THlfK    S\T,MOX 


:f''3»r. 


m  \  !?;/  ■■ 

for  Jjivx.'ntff. 
aft  t^Ami,   . 

hk'.  Wis*?**' 

with  fh' 

tbt.-  ls<*t.  i^-rr 

14^  lit  y^  i 

fresh -W»^!»  '■',     .     ; 
hi.li;li  or  h\  frOfti  ; 
is  sai'i  xo  b/i-c^  ^^ 


■.  i"'.:•;'i'^'  yeay,  Vf.m,  or  Gau*' .  ..'/«"'  aiiunin. 
.    Ut^usU  Fishes,  vol.  ii.  j».  J,     iJNiKay,  vol.  iv. 


-S'iln 


■'-  .    {i**}!  has  never  bf^ri  juadii  the  Fubjf-ct,  so  far' 

iio  stroMifp  aii'l  mini>«;ious  fablcH  which  hfivo 

.<^..iiV"  others  of  fhr  inh;ih't.tnteof- the  watons — -a?. 

'>,  .»f  whi«h  'I'i   u.i\\i  tells  iw,  ''  it  Is  not  to  he 

%n  are  brtiMi.  ^>i»y  by  gfioeration,  and  jorm^  not, 

v^\h^  ymi^i^^(f^4^  tinloKH  It^anietl  (Jefsner 

.-  t»#i.a<*,  thiv*  iifefd  and  otlun-  glutinous  riiatior, 

'*'^«it.  tri  some  particular  iiiont!i«,  und  sonu! 

.  -asc.,  do  beoom*'  PIkes"-~8till,  until  within 

i<t.'.'  ba<i  been  kuonti  with  cortaiiity  concerning,' 

'   ■      :  'h'-'  ffarlii^r  stages  of  \x\s  growth. 

-    \Valton,  '-is  accuanti^d  iho  king  of 

'    ■'.  '-ivors  reltitintj  to  tlui  soa,  yet  sn 

■    ■  '-ro  of  salt  or  )u-ucki«liiK'8.s.     Hn 

r  cmi  hw  epti'.vtt,  iti  most  rivors,  in  tho  month  <»/' 


.\ii).i;. 


Salino 


c\ ,  so  far  ■ 
licb  liHVo 

•sUiYA — a;; 

li<»t  to  be 

■  imc  not, 
1  Cct-snor 
m  iimttor, 

uiid  snniii 
atil  witliin 
joiK'cruin;^' 
\'[h.  ' 
u;  Ymg  *>!' 

Hca,  yet  »u 

inoiitii  «>r 


^    m    c/> 


•^    o 


'* 


33 

5;      C 


h    o 


c/^ 


CO 


CO 


8ALM0NID£. 


05 


August ;  some  say  that  then  they  dig  a  hole  or  grave  in  a  safe  place 
in  the  gravel,  and  there  place  their  eggs  or  spawn,  after  the  melter 
has  done  his  natural  office,  and  then  hide  it  most  cunningly,  and  cover 
it  over  with  gravel  and  stones ;  and  there  leave  it  to  their  Creator's 
protection,  who,  by  a  gentle  heat  which  he  infuses  in  that  cold  element, 
makes  it  brood  and  beget  life  in  the  spawn,  and  to  become  Samlets 
early  in  the  next  spring  following." 

This  passage  I  have  quoted  because  in  several  respects  it  approaches 
very  nearly  the  truth,  as  it  has  been  proved  by  the  result  of  a  series 
of  well-conducted  experiments,  to  which  I  shall  again  allude. 

The  true  Salmon  is  caught  in  the  estuaries  of  our  large  northern 
and  north-eastern  rivers,  on  his  way  up  to  deposit  his  spawn  in  the  last 
months  of  spring  and  the  early  part  of  the  summer.  It  has  been 
observed  in  Europe,  that  those  rivers  which  flow  from  large  lakes  afford 
the  earliest  Salmon,  the  waters  having  been  purified  by  deposition  in 
the  lakes,  while  those  which  are  swollen  by  melting  snows  are  later  in 
season. 

It  is  also  observed  that  the  northern  rivers  are  the  earliest ;  and  it 
is  stated  by  Artedi,  that  in  Sweden,  Salmon  spawn  in  the  middle  of 
the  summer.  The  causes  influencing  these  facts  are  not  yet  decided 
nor  are  they  easy  of  solution,  says  Sir  William  Jardine,  especially 
where  the  time  varies  much  in  the  neighboring  rivers  of  the  same 
district. 

I  am  not  aware  that  any  difference  of  this  kind  has  been  remarked 
m  this  country ;  and  the  great  lack  of  residents  on  the  remote  Salmon 
rivers  who  will  trouble  themselves  to  observe  and  record  such  facts  as 
daily  occur  under  their  eyes,  renders  it  very  difficult  to  obtain  such 
information  as  might  assist  one  in  coming  to  any  conclusion. 

So  far  as  I  can  judge,  however,  this  difforence  does  not  occur  on  this 
part  of  this  continent  at  least ;  nor  do  I  believe  that  the  Salmon  a^a 
earlier  in  their  appearance  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  which  flows  throjgh 
the  largest  chain  of  fresh-water  lakes  in  the  world,  than  the  St.  Jol  n's, 
or  the  Penobscot,  which  lie  farther  to  the  south,  and  have  no  lakis  of 
any  magnitude  on  their  waters.  It  must  be  mentioned,  however,  1  tore, 
that  all  these  rivers  are  equally  swollen  by  melting  snows  •.  and  hat, 
being  frozen  solidly  until  late  in  the  spring,  the  period  of  their  ooen- 
ing  naturally  connects  itself  with  the  appearance  of  the  fish. 


m 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


The  Connecticut  river,  which  has  no  large  lake  on  its  course,  and  is 
the  southernmost  of  all  the  rivers  which  have  furnished  Salmon  for 
many  years  past,  has  ceased  to  be  a  Salmon  river;  or  some  facts 
might  have  been  ascertained  through  observation  of  its  waters.  The 
Kennebec  also,  though  formerly  an  unrivalled  Salmon  river,  is  becom- 
ing yearly  less  productive  of  this  fine  fish.  I  am  inclined  to  think, 
bowever,  that  it  is  the  earliest  Salmon  river  on  this  side  of  the  Ameri- 
can continent ;  with  the  Arctic  rivers  I  have  of  course  nothing  to  do  ; 
and  of  the  rivers  or  natural  productions  of  California,  Oregon,  and  the 
Pacific  coast,  we  shall  know  nothing  on  which  reliance  can  be  placed, 
until  the  gold-hunting  hordes  are  replaced  by  a  stationary  and  organ- 
ised population. 

The  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  is  about  one  degree  to  the  southward 
and  westward  of  the  Penobscot,  and  flows  out  of  a  large  sheet  of  water, 
Moosehead  lake,  which  abounds  in  the  common  Lake  Trout,  growing 
to  a  very  large  size,  the  Snlmo  Confinis  of  DeKay.  I  presume  that 
the  true  Salmon  no  longer  has  the  power  of  making  his  way  up  to  the 
head-waters  of  this  beautiful  and  limpid  stream,  in  consequence  of  the 
numerous  and  lofty  dams  which  bar  its  course  ;  but  of  this  I  am  not 
certain. 

The  Salmon  enters  our  rivers,  then,  rarely  before  the  middle  of  May, 
and  is  taken  in  their  estuaries  so  late  as  the  end  of  July ;  and  during 
the  early  part  of  the  season,  nearly  indeed  until  the  latter  date,  does 
not  ascend  far  above  tide-water,  generally  going  up  with  the  floc  1,  and 
returning  with  the  ebb.  At  this  time  they  are  taken  by  thousands  in 
stake-nets,  on  the  Penobscot  and  other  eastern  rivers,  and  sent  thence, 
packed  in  ice,  to  the  markets  of  all  the  larger  cities  of  the  United  States. 

At  the  time  of  their  first  entering  the  fresh-water,  when  they  are  in 
the  highest  possible  condition,  in  the  greatest  perfection  of  flesh  and 
flavor,  and  at  the  height  of  external  beauty,  they  are  of  a  rich  trans- 
parent blueish-black,  varied  with  greenish  reflections  along  the  back, 
these  colors  gradually  dying  away  as  they  approach  and  pass  the  lateral 
line,  below  which  the  belly  is  of  the  most  beautiful  glistening  silvery 
whiteness.  The  dorsal,  caudal,  and  p3Ctoral  fins,  are  dusky  black, 
the  small  fatty  second  dorsal  fin  bluish-black,  the  central  fins  white 
on  the  outer  side,  but  somewhat  barker  within,  and  the  anal  fin  silversy 
white,  like  the  belly. 


SALMONIDiK. 


67 


There  are  generally  a  few  dark  spots  dispersed  along  the  body  about 
the  lateral  line ;  and  in  the  female  fish  those  aro  more  numerous  and 
conspicuous  than  in  the  males. 

The  accompanying  cut,  facing  page  54,  is  of  a  female,  fresh  run 
from  the  sea,  and  is  copied,  by  permission,  from  the  figure  by  Son- 
rel,  in  Mr.  Agassiz's  great  work  alluded  to  above.  The  individual 
from  which  the  figure  is  taken,  was  caught  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Havre-de-Grace,  in  France ;  but  the  Salmon  of  the  two  continents 
are  identical. 

I  will  here  observe,  en  passanl,  that  whenever  it  has  been  in  my 
power  to  obtain  specimens,  either  living  or  in  spirits,  I  have  myself 
drawn  the  figures  from  nature  on  the  wood;  but  where,  from  the 
season  of  the  year,  or  other  causes,  I  have  been  unable  to  obtain  that 
advantage,  I  have  copied  my  illustrations  from  the  best  authbrities, 
where  I  could  find  plates  or  drawings  which  I  deemed  satisfactory. 
In  the  absence  of  either,  I  have  left  the  fish  unrepresented,  in  prefer- 
ence to  giving  incorrect  caricatures  of  the  animal — such  as  disgrace 
too  many  works  of  natural  history,  and,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  among 
others,  the  great  Natural  History  lately  published  by  the  State  of  New 
Vork,  the  illustrations  of  which  aro  below  contempt  as  works  of  art, 
and,  in  a  scientific  view,  utterly  useless,  and  uncharacteristic. 

After  they  have  gained  the  upper  and  shallow  parts  of  the  rivers, 
preparatory  to  the  deposition  of  their  spawn,  the  colors  of  the  Salmon 
are  materially  altered ;  the  male  becomes  marked  on  the  cheek  with 
orange-colored  stripes,  the  lower  jaw  acquires  a  peculiar  projection, 
and  turns  upward  at  the  point  in  a  hard,  hooked,  cartilaginous  excres- 
cence, which,  when  the  mouth  is  closed,  occupies  a  hollow  between  the 
mtermaxillary  bones. 

The  body  of  the  fish  becomes  greenish  above,  with  the  sides  of  an 
orange  hue,  fading  into  yellowish-green  on  the  belly,  and  the  spots 
assume  a  sanguine  hue,  the  dorsal  and  caudal  fins  being  more  or  less 
spotted.  The  females  at  this  season  are  even  darker  than  on  their 
arrival  in  fresh  water. 

The  males  are  at  this  period  termed  Red-fish  in  Great  Britain,  and 
the  females  Black-fish ;  and  they  aro  so  designated  in  the  very  salutary 
enactments  which,  in  that  country,  by  protecting  the  fish  during  their 
5 


68 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


season  of  breeding,  have  preserved  them  from  extirpation ;  enactments 
which,  as  cannot  be  too  much  regretted  or  too  strongly  reprobated, 
the  recaleitrative  and  over-independent  spirit  of  our  people  wil'  not 
tolerate,  much  less  obey. 

The  time  will  come,  when  the  population  at  large  will  deplore  this 
foolish  and  discreditable  spirit  j  when,  like  him  who  slow  the  goose 
which  laid  the  golden  eggs,  they  find  that  by  thcur  own  ultra-domo- 
cratic  spirit,  they  are  deprived  entirely  and  forever  of  a  great  source 
of  national  pleasure,  as  well  as  national  profit  and  wealth — for  such 
are  the  fisheries  of  a  country. 

During  the  winter  the  fish  go  through  the  process  of  spawning, 
which  is  thus  described  by  Mr.  Ellis,  in  his  "  Natural  History  of 
the  Salmon,"  as  quoted  by  Yarrel  in  his  "  British  Fishes :  " 

"  A  pair  of  fish  are  seen  to  make  a  furrow,  by  working  up  the  gravel 
with  their  noses,  rather  against  the  stream,  as  a  Salmon  cannot  work 
with  his  head  down  stream,  for  the  water  then  going  into  his  gills  the 
wrong  way,  drowns  him.  When  the  furrow  is  made,  the  male  and 
female  retire  to  a  little  distance,  one  to  the  one  side,  and  the  other  to 
the  other  side  of  the  furrow ;  they  then  throw  themselves  on  their 
sides,  again  come  together,  and  rubbing  against  each  other,  both  shed 
their  spawn  into  the  furrow  at  the  same  time.  This  process  is  not 
completed  at  once ;  it  requires  from  eight  to  twelve  days  for  them  to 
lay  all  their  spawn,  and  when  they  have  done  they  betake  them  to  the 
pools,  and  descend  to  the  sea,  to  refresh  themselves." 

At  this  time  they  are  lean,  out  of  condition,  and  unfit  for  food. 
Meanwhile,  the  female  has  acquired  a  grayish  color  on  the  back,  with 
bright  yellow  sides.  She  is  covered  above  the  lateral  line,  including 
the  dorsal  and  caudal  fins,  with  alternate  dusky  and  ruddy  spots.  Her 
pectoral,  ventral,  and  anal  fins  are  of  a  bluish  gray  color.  She  is  now 
a  long,  lank,  big-headed,  flat-sided  fish,  as  unlike  as  possible  to  the 
beautifully-formed  glistening  creature  which  ran  up  the  stream  in  the 
preceding  autumn. 

She  is  now  termed  properly  a  baggit,  and  the  male  a  kipper ;  and 
the  two,  generally,  kelts.  ,  •.  \, 

Before  entering  the  salt-water,  they  linger  awhile  in  the  brackish 
water  of  the  tide-ways,  as  they  did  on  ascending  the  rivers,  obtaining. 


SALMONIDA. 


59 


it  is  said,  thereby  a  release  from  certain  parasitical  animals,  gene- 
rated,  these  by  the  fresh,  those  by  the  salt  water,  at  each  change  of 
waters. 

In  Great  Britain,  the  period  of  the  Salmon's  spawning  varies  from 
November  to  the  end  of  January.     They  have  been  carefully  watched 
during  the  whole  process,  as  have  the  eggs  after  their  deposition,  so 
that  the  length  of  time  which  it  takes  them  to  attain  to  maturity  is 
accurately  known.      This  time  has  been  .ascertained  by  Mr.  Shaw,  in 
a  series  of  experiments,  of  which  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  moro 
fully  hereafter,  to  be  about 

1 14  days,  when  the  temperature  of  the  water  is       -        -      36"   •: 
101  days,     ------  43*' 

90  days,  -  -  -  -  -  -      45*  ^ 

These  experiments  were  performed  in  the  open  air,  and  in  natural 
streams,  liable  to  the  ordinary  influences  of  the  atmosphere  and 
weather. 

Dr.  Knox,  however,  as  is  recorded  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal 
Society  of  Edinburgh,  observed  a  pair  of  Salmon  which  completed 
their  spawning,  and  covered  up  their  ova  with  gravel,  in  the  usual 
way,  on  the  2d  of  November.  This  was  in  one  of  the  northern  tribu- 
taries of  the  Tweed.  *- 

On  the  25th  of  February,  or  at  the  end  of  one  hundred  and  sixteen 
days,  the  ova  were  dug  up,  and  found  unchanged.  On  being  removed, 
however,  at  this  stage,  and  placed  in  bottles  of  water  in  warm  rooms, 
the  eggs  were  matured  almost  immediately,  and  the  young  fry  hatched. 
In  this  state  they  cah  be  preserved  in  the  bottles,  with  the  water  un- 
changed, for  about  ten  days,  as  during  that  time  they  are  supported 
on  the  yolk  of  the  egg  which  adheres  to  the  under  part  of  their  bodies, 
as  exhibited  in  figure  1  on  the  cut  at  the  head  of  this  article. 

On  th3  23d  of  March,  according  to  Dr.  Knox,  the  ova  began  to 
change,  and  it  was  not  until  the  1st  of  April  that  the  fry  were  found 
to  have  quitted  the  beds.      >    •     ;  c 

Mr.  Shaw's  experiments  were,  however,  so  conducted  as  to  furnish 
data  on  which  more  reliance  may  be  placed ;  and  as  these  arc  of  the 
greatest  interest,  and  as  from  experiments  similarly  conducted,  farther 
results  of  a  different  kind  might  be  attained,  of  surpassing  importance. 
I  shall  state  them  somewhat  at  length. 


60 


AMERICAN  FI8HKH. 


A  full  account  will  be  found,  by  those  who  desire  to  investigate  the 
subject  more  thoroughly,  in  the  Edinburgh  New  Philosophical  Journal 
for  July,  1836,  and  January,  1838. 

Mr.  Shaw,  it  seems,  caused  three  ponds  to  bo  made,  of  different  size, 
at  about  fifty  yards  distance  from  a  Salmon  river,  the  Erith,  the  pondn 
being  supplied  by  a  stream  of  spring-water,  well  furnished  with  the 
larvae  of  insects.  The  average  temperature  of  the  water  in  the  rivulet 
«ras  rather  higher  and  less  variable  than  of  that  in  the  river  ;  other- 
wise the  circumstances  of  the  ova  contained  in  the  ponds,  and  of  the 
young  fry  produced  therefrom,  were  precisely  similar  to  those  of  tho 
spawn  and  fry  in  the  river. 

These  ponds  were  all  two  feet  deep,  with  wcU-gravelled  bottoms, 
the  highest  pond  eighteen  feet  by  twenty-two,  the  second  eighteen  by 
twenty-five,  the  third  thirty  by  fifty.  ; 

Observing  two  Salmon,  male  and  female,  in  the  river  preparing  to 
deposit  their  spawu,  Mr.  Shaw  prepared  in  the  shingle,  by  the  stream's 
edge,  a  small  trench,  through  which  he  directed  a  stream  of  water 
from  the  river,  and  at  the  lower  extremity  of  the  trench,  placed  a  large 
earthenware  basin  to  receive  the  ova.  This  done,  by  means  of  a  hoop- 
net  he  secured  the  two  fish  which  he  had  observed ;  and  placing  the 
female,  while  alive,  in  the  trench,  forced  her,  by  gentle  pressure  of 
her  body,  to  deposit  her  ova  in  the  trench.  The  male  fish  was  then 
placed  in  the  same  position,  and  a  quantity  of  the  milt  being  pressed 
from  his  body,  passed  down  the  stream,  and  thoroughlv  impregnated 
the  ova,  which  were  then  transferred  to  the  basin,  and  thence  to  the 
small  stream  which  fed  the  upper  pond,  where  they  were  covered  up 
in  the  gravel  as  usual.  The  temperature  of  the  stream  was  40°,  that 
of  the  river  36**.  The  skins  of  the  Salmon  were  preserved,  in  order 
to  prevent  the  possibility  of  doubt  or  cavilling  concerning  the  species 
The  male  fish,  when  taken,  weighed  sixteen,  the  female  eight  pounds 

The  result  was,  that  the  young  fish  were  hatched,  as  I  have  stated 
in  the  scale  above  given.  When  first  emerging  from  the  membrane  in 
which  it  had  been  enclosed,  with  the  yolk  adhering  to  the  abdomen, 
the  young  fry  is  as  it  is  shown  in  No.  1,  of  the  cut  referred  to  above. 
The  yolk  is  absorbed  in  twenty-seven  days,  after  which  the  young 
fish  require  nourishment.  At  the  end  of  two  months,  the  young  fish 
has  attained  the  length  of  an  inch  and  a  quarter,  as  represented  at 


/■ 


SALMONIDJE. 


61 


Mo.  2 ;  and  at  the  age  of  six  months,  ho  has  grown  to  the  size  of  three 
inches  and  a  quarter,  and,  except  in  dimensions, -is  exactly  rendered 
in  No.  3  of  the  above  cut. 

From  these  facts  we  arrive  at  two  consequences.  First,  that  the 
growth  of  the  young  Salmon  has  been  greatly  overrated ;  and,  secondly, 
that  at  a  certain  period  of  its  life  the  Salmon  %%  a  Parr.  The  extent 
to  which  the  growth  of  the  Salmon  has  been  overrated,  will  be  per- 
ceived at  once,  when  it  is  shown  that  Dr.  Knox,  in  the  paper  from 
which  I  have  already  quoted,  states  that  tho  fry  which  emerged  from 
their  capsules  on  the  1st  of  April,  were  taken,  on  the  22d  of  the  same 
month,  in  the  same  year,  as  Sniolts,  with  the  fly,  of  the  size  of  the 
little  finger. 

It  was  also  generally  believed  that  the  fry  of  the  year  descended  to 
the  gea  that  very  spring,  smd  returned,  in  the  autumn,  grilse,  varying 
from  two  to  seven  pounds  weight. 

It  is  distinctly  shown,  however,  by  Mr.  Shaw,  that  the  young  Sal- 
mon, which  is  called  a  Pink  while  in  the  state  represented  above, 
having  perpendicular  lateral  bars  or  markings  of  a  dusky  gray  color, 
which  were  once  supposed  to  be  peculiar  to  the  Parr,  docs  not  become 
a  Smolt,  or  go  down  to  the  sea  until  the  second  spring,  tarrying  a 
whole  year  in  the  fresh  water. 


Salmon  Smolt,  one  year  old. 


The  fish  here  represented  measured  seven  inches  and  a  half  ir 
length,  and  three  inches  and  one-eighth  in  circumference. 

Its  gill-covers  were  silvery,  marked  with  a  dark  spot ;  belly  and 
sides,  up  to  the  lateral  line  of  the  same,  silvery  color  ;  back  and  sides. 


ta 


AMERICAN  FIStIi:s 


down  to  tho  latoral  lino,  dusky,  incliuing  to  green  ;  sides  above  th« 
lateral  lim;  marked  with  dusky  spots ;  along  tho  latoral  lino,  and  both 
a  little  above  and  a  little  below  it,  several  dull  obscure  rod  spots.  Tho 
dorsal  fin  has  twelve  rays,  marked  with  bv.vcral  dusky  spots  ;  the  pec- 
toral fin  has  twelve  rays  of  a  dusky  olive  color ;  tho  vcntnil  fin  eight 
rays  of  a  silvery  white  ;  and  tho  anal  fin  tun  rays  of  tho  same  color. 
When  the  scales  were  carefully  taken  off  with  a  knife,  tho  obscure 
red  spots  became  of  a  fine  vormillion^  and  wore  nineteen  in  number  ; 
and  ten  obscure  oval  bars  of  a  dusky  bluish  color  appeared,  which 
crossed  the  lateral  line.  In  a  young  fry  which  has  not  acquired  the 
scales,  these  bars  aro  very  distinct. 

The  above  cut  and  description  arc  both  borrowed  from  Y"rrel's 
"British  Fishes,"  the  latter  as  quoted  from  Dr.  Heysham's  catalogue. 

To  render  these  facts  yet  more  certain,  in  tho  autumn  of  1835, 
Thomas  Upton,  Esq.,  of  Ingmere  Hall,  near  Kendal,  began  to  en- 
large a  natural  lake  on  his  property,  and  in  the  spring  of  1836,  some 
pinks  from  the  Lune,  a  Salmon  river  in  that  vicinity,  were  put  into  it. 

This  lake,  which  is  called  Lilymere,  has  no  communication  with  any 
other  water,  by  which  the  fish  once  introduced  can  get  out,  or  any  fry, 
from  other  waters,  get  in.  The  pinks,  when  put  in,  were  certainly  not 
above  two  or  three  ounces  each  in  weight.  Sixteen  months  afterward, 
a  friend  of  Mr.  Upton's  being  on  a  visit  to  him,  caught  with  a  red 
palmer  fly  two  Salmon  Peal,  in  excellent  condition,  silvery  bright  in 
color,  measuring  fourteen  inches  in  length,  and  weighing  fourteen 
ounces;  one  was  cooked  and  eaten,  the  flesh  pink  in  color,  but  not  so 
red  as  those  of  the  river,  well-flavored,  and  like  that  of  a  Peal. 

In  the  month  of  July,  1838,  eleven  months  after,  another  small 
Salmon  was  caught,  equal  to  the  first  in  condition  and  color,  about 
two  inches  longer,  and  three  ounces  heavier.  No  doubt  was  enter- 
tained that  these  were  two  of  tho  pinks  tiansferred  to  the  lake  in  the 
spring  of  1836,  the  first  of  which  had  been  retained  sixteen  months, 
and  the  latter  twenty-seven  months,  in  fresh-water. 

Farther  than  this,  it  was  found  that,  in  the  river  Hodder,  tho  pinks 
in  April  are  rather  more  than  three  inches  long,  and  that  at  the  same 
time  smol'  ?  of  six  and  a  half  are  also  taken,  with  the  colors  altered 
as  above,  and  ready  to  migrate.  In  July,  the  pink  measures  five  inches, 
and  the  smolts  have  then  left  the  river. 


■iS^JSK 


AALMONIDJe. 


08 


Dr.  Knox  ssems  to  have  erred  merely  in  supposing  that  the  pinks, 
the  siz3  of  the  little  finger,  were  from  the  ova  hatched  in  April,  when 
they  were  prooably  from  an  earlier  hatching  of  fish,  which  spawned  at 
a  more  remote  date. 

It  soema,  however,  to  be  clearly  and  certainly  established  by  these 
experiments,  that  the  smolt,  or  laspring,  as  they  are  sometimes  called, 
which  descend  iho  rivers  every  spring  toward  the  middle  of  May,  are 
a  whole  year  older  than  the  pinks,  which  are  taken  in  the  same  waters, 
at  the  same  time,  and  by  the  same  fly. 

With  regard  to  tl.«e  later  growth  of  the  Salmon,  I  am  not  of  opinion 
that  the  lake  experiments  prove  much,  if  anything,  either  pro  or  con; 
since  it  is  a  known  and  established  fact,  that  salt-water  has  a  recupe- 
rative influence  upon  the  mature  fish  which  run  down  the  rivers  ex- 
hausted by  spawning,  and  also  a  certain  tendency  to  increase  the 
growth  of  the  young  fish  which  descend  the  streams,  smolts,  as  it  now 
appears,  in  their  second  year,  of  six  or  seven  inches  length,  and  about 
as  many  ounces  weight,  aud  return  peal  or  grilse,  varying  from  two  to 
eight  pounds. 

It  must  be  observed  herO;  that  grilse  is  the  correct  name  of  the  fish 
on  its  return  from  the  sea  in  its  second  season,  and  that  peal  is  merely  a 
fishmonger's  terra  for  a  small  grilse  not  exceeding  two  pounds'  weight. 

That  the  idi  tical  smolt  of  six  or  seven  ounces  do  return,  after 
two  or  three  months'  absence  in  the  sea,  as  grilse  of  as  many  pounds' 
weight,  is  proved  beyond  all  dispute ;  smolts  innumerable  having  been 
taken,  maiked  with  numbered  ti  jkets  of  zinc  attached  to  the  rays  of 
their  dorsal  fins  set  at  liberty,  t.nd  recaptured  grilse,  varying  from 
two  to  eight  pounds,  in  the  autui.in  of  the  same  voar.  The  same 
experiment,  with  the  labels  unremoved,  shows  that  the  same  grilse, 
descending  the  stream  of  unincreased  magnitude  in  the  spring  of  his 
third  year,  returns  in  that  third  autumn  a  fish  of  sixteen,  and  upward 
to  twenty-five,  pounds'  weight. 

I  hold,  therefore,  that  the  argument  is  conclusive,  so  long  as  it  is 
founded  on  a  comparison  between  fish  which,  whether  they  be  con- 
fined or  at  large,  never  visits  the  sea.  Beyond  that  the  analogy 
ceases.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the  Salmon  confined  to  fresh- 
water will  ever  attain  the  size  of  those  which  run  to  and  fro,  from  the 
fresh  to  the  salt ;  I  greatly  doubt  it ;  and,  with  Mr.  Yarrel,  I  think  it 


04 


AMERICAN  riBHKb. 


more  than  a  dubioue  point,  whether  the  luh,  ho  Htoppud  from  migra- 
tion to  the  8ca,  will  ever  acquire  power  to  reproduce  their  own  spccios. 

It  is  a  ningular  fact,  that  the  Salmon  propagates  its  kind  before  it  \m 
adult — the  grilse,  on  its  return  from  the  soa  in  its  second  year,  having 
tho  roo  and  milt  far  advanced,  and  spawning  that  same  autumn.  The 
ova  in  tho  grilse  differ  not  in  size,  but  in  number  only,  from  those  of 
the  adult  Salmon  of  a  year's  later  growth,  and  there  is  no  known 
dift'oronoe  between  tho  fry  of  tho  young  and  full-grown  fish. 

It  will  prove  to  bo  the  fact,  1  have  no  doubt,  that  in  this  country  thesii 
Bsh  spawn  earlier  in  the  season  than  in  Great  Britain ;  indeed,  they 
must  do  so,  for  in  the  month  of  January  the  head-waters  of  the  rivers 
whicii  they  frequent  are  masses  of  solid  ice ;  and  I  presume  it  will  be 
found  that  the  ova  are  deposited  and  covered  with  gravel  in  the  months 
of  September  and  October,  and  in  all  probability  that  the  parent  fish 
return  to  the  salt-water  the  same  autumn,  or  early  in  tho  winter, 
before  the  closing  of  the  rivers.     This  is,  however,  little  important. 

I  now  come  to  the  second  point,  proved  beyond  all  doubt  by  these 
experiments ;  videlicet,  that  the  Salmon,  in  tho  first  stage  of  his  exist- 
ence, is,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  what  is  commonly  called  a  Parr. 

Most,  if  not  all,  of  my  readers,  are  probably  aware  that,  in  some 
particular  streams  of  Great  Britain,  there  has  been  found  invariably 
a  small  fish  of  the  Salmon  family,  never  attaining  to  any  considerable 
size  or  weight,  and  distinguishable  from  Trout  only  by  the  presence 
of  tho  bluish  gray,  or  olive,  transverse  bands  alluded  to  above,  and 
figured  in  the  cut  of  Pinks,  at  the  head  of  this  article  ;  as  also  again 
in  the  plate  at  the  head  of  that  on  tho  Brook  Trout,  Salmo  Fontinaliif 
next  following. 

Concerning  this  little  fish,  there  has  been  a  continual  doubt,  and  a 
dispute  of  many  years'  standing,  some  persons  maintaining  that  it  was 
a  distinct,  and  reproductive  species  of  the  Salmonidm,  which  they 
termed  variously  Parr,  Samlet,  Brandling,  and  so  forth.  Others,  from 
its  never  being  taken  of  any  size,  have  believed  it  to  be  an  unproduc- 
tive cross,  or  mule,  between  the  Salmon  and  the  common  Trout,  the 
sea  Trout  and  common  Trout,  &c.,  &c. ;  and  others  yet  again,  that 
it  was  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  young  Salmon. 

In  pr)i)f  of  this,  it  was  adduced  that  Parr  had  been  marked  and 
retaken  as  Grilse  ..      .  <( . 


SALMON  IDA. 


66 


Bui  in  reply,  it  was  Btatcd  timt  Parr  had  also  boon  marked  and 
retaken  aa  Dull  Trout,  Salmo  Eriox^  and  Salmon  Trout,  Salmo 
Trutta ;  whcnoo  it  was  ar^uod  that  the  fish  marked  had  boon  bo 
marked  curelosHly  and  injudiciously,  and  wore  not  Purr  at  all,  but 
Smolta,  or  fry  of  some  of  the  other  Salmoniila.  Mr.  Varrol 
admits  that  he  has  seen  these  vertical  marks  in  the  young  fry  of  the 
Salmon,  Bull  Trout,  Parr,  common  Trout,  and  Welch  Churr  ;  but 
tttill  maintains  the  existence  of  the  Purr  as  distinct,  principally  on  thj 
ground  thut  the  Parrs  are  taken  abundantly  even  in  autumn,  not 
exceeding  five  inches  in  lontrth,  long  after  the  fry  of  the  larger  migra- 
tory species  have  gone  down  to  the  sea. 

This  is  in  the-  body  of  the  work,  written  previous  to  the  experiments 
made  by  Mr.  Shaw ;  and  this  Mr.  Yarrel  there  considers  to  bo  a 
sufficiently  obvious  proof  that  the  Parr  is  not  the  young  of  the  Salmon, 
or  indeed  of  any  other  of  the  larger  Salmonida. 

The  reason  is  of  course  annihilated  by  the  proven  fact,  that  the 
Pinks,  which  remain  in  fresh- water  all  the  first  year,  are  young  Sal- 
mon, Parr-marked ;  whereas  the  young  Salmon-fry,  Smolts,  formerly 
supposed  lo  be  the  young  fish  of  that  year,  all  of  which  have  gon  s 
down  the  n'ver  to  the  soa,  are  in  truth  the  fish  of  the  preceding  year. 

Similarly  is  the  question  settled  with  regard  to  the  existence  of 
Parrs  in  streams  of  the  Western  isles  which  are  never  visited  by 
Salmon,  these  being,  in  all  probability,  the  Brook  Trout  in  the  Parr 
stage  of  its  existence.  • 

And  so  again  the  fact  that  there  are  lalces  in  the  same  islands  fre- 
quented by  the  Salmon  and  soa  Trout,  in  which  Parrs  are  never  foun:l 
— because  the  yo'ing  fry,  while  in  the  Parr,  or  transversely  banded, 
form,  keep  in  the  iiwift  cold  streams,  and  do  not  descend  to  the  lakes. 

It  now  appears  to  be  certain,  or  as  nearly  certain  as  anything  can 
be,  which  is  not  positively  proved,  that  every  species  of  the  Salmonida 
is  at  one  period  a  barded  fish, or  Parr. 

This  is  known  as  .in  authenticated  fact  of  the  Salmon,  Salmon 
Trout,  Bull  Trout,  and  common  English  Trout,  as  well  as  of  the 
Welch  Charr,  as  admitt^ed  by  Yarrel. 

Mr.  Agassiz  has  figured  the  Hucho,  Salmo  Hucho,  and  the  conti- 
nental Charr,  which  he  esteems  identical  with  the  northern  Charr  of 
England,  Salmo  Umhla^  vu  the  same  stage — the  other  characteristics 


rt6 


AMERICAN  FISHES 


of  the  different  fish  beiug  unmistakable  and  evident — with  the  trans- 
verse bars.     The  same  distinoruished  naturalist  has  taken  the  Grjat 

O 

Lake  Trout,  or  Mackinaw  Salmon,  Salmo  Amethystus,  and  the  Brook 
Trout,  Salmo  Fontinalis,  which  abounds  in  all  small  streams,  wherein 
it  is  bred,  in  this  same  form. 

'  Thei'e  only  remain  to  be  accounted  for  some  two  or  three  species, 
the  Great  Gray  Trout,  of  Britain,  the  Sea  Trout,  Salvia  Trutta^  and 
the  Silver  Trout,  Salmo  LacustriSy  of  Continental  Europe,  and  on  this 
continent,  the  Siskawitz,  Salmo  Siskawitz,  and  the  Lake  Trout,  Salmo 
Coiifinis,  of  Dekay. 

No  especial  search  has  been  instituted  for  the  fry  of  any  of  these 
fish  last  named  ;  so  that  the  non-discovery  goes  no  way  to  prove  their 
non-existence  ;  on  the  contrary,  all  analogy  goes  to  show  that  they 
will  be  discovered  in  time.  •         '-....'•(>  >^     .•  • 

As  it  new  stands,  of  fourteen,  the  most  strongly-marked,  Salmonida, 
nine  have  been  clearly  traced  to  this  form  ;  and  the  five  missing  species 
are  either  analogous,  as  the  three  European  species,  Or  closely  con- 
generous, as  the  two  American  LakeTrout,  to  one  species  Amethystus^ 
which  is  shown  to  be  no  exception  to  the  rule. 

Every  migratory  species  of  Salmo  is  found  in  this  stage  ;  and  one 
of  the  five  or  six,  non-migratory.  All  analogy,  therefore,  goes  to  .show 
that  these  species  will  be  found,  on  research,  not  to  deviate  from  the 
rule  of  their  order.         '  ■  '    '     -  "{,••.«■ 

Mr.  Shaw  goes  farther,  and  argues  that  no  such  perfect  fish  as  the 
Parr  exists  ;  and  that  all  the  fish  so  named  by  different  observers  are 
in  truth  the  young  of  different  species  of  the  Salmon  family. 

Against  this  fact,  Mr.  Yarrel  reclaims;  and  justly  remarks  that 
"  this  is  not  conclusive  evidence  of  the  non-existence  of  a  distinct  small 
fish,  to  which  the  name  of  Parr  ought  to  be  exclusively  applied  ;  it 
rather  shows  the  want  of  power  amrng  general  observers  to  distinguish 
between  the  young  of  closely-allied  species,  three  or  four  of  which  arc 
indiscriminately  called  Parrs."  '       .-/,.' 

■   This  is  certainly  true  logic.  ^ 

The  fact  that  all  the  young  of  all  the  Salmonida  are  what  have 
been  called  Parrs,  is  no  proof  that  all  Parrs  aro  young  and  immature 
fish. 

This  matter,  though,  as  it  now  stands,  cleared  of  all  the  absurd 


ItALMONIDA. 


67 


thcorifiH  concerning  cross-breeding  between  Salmon,  Sea  Trout,  Gray- 
ling, and  Common  Trout,  being  set  aside,  is  of  easy  proof. 

It  only  rests  to  show  the  male  and  female  Parrs  full  of  ova,  ready 
for  spawning,  and  the  question  is  scttl^^d. 

In  connciction  with  this,  it  is  fair  to  state,  that  Dr.  Hcysham,  of 
Carlisle,  in  England,  who  is  said  to  have  devoted  particular  attention 
to  this  finh,  which  is  there  called  Brandling  or  Samlet,  observes  that 
"  The  old  Samlets  begin  to  deposit  their  spawn  in  December,  and 
continuf;  spawning  the  whole  of  that  month,  and  perhaps  some  part 
of  January,  As  this  season  of  the  year  is  not  favorable  for  angling, 
few  or  no  observations  arc  made  during  these  months.  As  soon  as 
they  hav(5  spawned  they  retire,  like  the  Salmon,  to  the  sea,  where  they 
remain  till  the  autumn,  when  they  again  return  to  the  rivers." 
'  Aft(!r  u  number  of  farther  observations  concerning  the  young  fry  of 
the  Hup*>osod  Parr,  their  sizes,  seasons,  &c.,  he  concludes  by  these 
words — "  In  short,  we  see  Samlets  of  various  sizes — ^we  see  them  with 
milt  and  roe,  in  all  the  various  stages,  and  we  see  them  perfectly 
empty  ;  all  which  circumstances  clearly  prove  that  they  are  a  distinct 
«pccit!H," 

Cbiarly,  indeed ;  if  it  appears  that  these  circumstances  can  be 
authenticated;  but  this  I,  for  the  present,  doubt — first,  because  if 
there  had  b.-jon  visible  facts,  the  theory  never  could  have  been  started 
of  their  being  unproductive  mules.  Second,  because  Sir  William 
Jurdine,  aftsr  examination  of  the  Parr  of  the  Tweed,  speaks  of  it  as 
still  uncertain  whether  it  may  not  be  the  young  of  the  common  Trout, 
Salmo  Fario ;  and  for  this  reason,  that  though  he  has  found  males 
full  of  milt,  he  never  has  seen  females  with  the  roe  in  an  advanced 
state ;  and,  farthermore,  distinctly  avers,  that  "  they  have  not  been 
discovered  spawning  in  any  of  the  shallow  streams  or  lesser  rivulets, 
like  the  Trout." 

Sir  William,  however,  still  leans  to  the  opinion  that  there  is  a 
distinct  species,  in  which  the  -ansvcrse  markings  are  permanent, 
which  r(!produccs  its  own  kind,  and  never  grows  to  a  greater  size 
than  eight  or  nine  inches ;  and  this  ho  would  retain  under  the  title 
given  to  it  by  Ray,  of  Salmo  Salmulus. 

Mr.  Yarrcl  is  of  the  same  opinion  ;  and  has  certainly  shown 
decidedly  that  it  is  not  a  hybrid,  or  a  species  of  which  there  are 


68 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


no  females,  as  had  been  surmised ;  since  of  three  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  Parrs,  or  Samlets,  examined  by  Dr.  Heysham,  one  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  were  males,  and  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  females. 

The  great  point,  however,  is  this,  which  is  now,  I  think,  perfectly 
clear,  and  which  at  once  dispels  all  the  mystery  of  the  question — 
namely — that  the  young  of  all  the  Salmonidce — not  several  only,  as 
Sir  William  Jardine  and  Mr.  Yarrel  state,  but  all — have,  in  their 
extreme  youth,  transverse  bluish,  or  olive-colored  markings ;  that  they 
have  all  been  confounded  with  one  another,  and — if  there  be  such  a 
fish — with  the  Parr  proper  ;  and  that  from  this  confusion,  and  the 
want  of  discrimination  on  the  part  of  the  observers,  have  arisen  all 
the  contradictory  accounts  of  Salmon,  Salmon  Trout,  Bull  Trout, 
and  Common  Trout,  raised  from  the  veritable  Parr. 

Whether  there  do  or  do  not  exist  a  very  small,  distinct  species 
of  Salmo,  in  Great  Britain,  which  retains  these  marks  to  maturity, 
is  a  matter  of  little  comparative  moment,  though  interesting  to  the 
naturalist.  The  first  question  was  of  the  greatest  importance,  as 
involving  the  whole  subject  of  reproduction  of  species ;  inasmuch 
as  the  facts,  as  asserted  and  formerly  believed,  were  directly 
analogous  to  this,  that  from  the  eggs  of  a  barn-door  fowl,  of  one 
laying,  were  hatched  bantauis,  quail,  guinea-hens,  pea-fowl,  and  any 
other  gallinaceous  fowl  you  please. 

On  this  continent,  assuredly,  there  is  no  distinct  Parr,  although 
undouLtodly  it  will  appear  hereafter,  that  like  the  young  of  every  one 
of  the  family,  like  the  true  Salmon,  the  greater  Lake  Trout,  and  the 
Brook  Trout,  the  other  species  without  exception,  have  the  Parr 
markings. 

On  this  topic  I  have  dwelt  somewhat  at  length,  yet  I  trust  not  so 
long  as  to  weary  my  readers,  the  great  interest  of  the  point  at  issue, 
and  the  almost  interminable  discussion  which  has  been  maintained  on 
the  subject,  rendering  me  peculiarly  anxious  to  adduce  something  new 
and  to  the  point ;  which,  thanks  to  the  kind  assistance  of  my  friend, 
Mr.  Agassiz,  I  trust  I  have  succeeded  in  doing. 

I  may  here  venture  to  add  that  the  distinguished  gentleman  I  have 
just  named,  is  inclined  to  incredulity  as  regards  the  existence  of  a 
distinct  species  of  Parr. 

I  shall  now  recur  to  the  experiments  on  the  ova  of  Salmon  ;   first. 


SALMONID^. 


0d 


for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  they  may  be  brought  into  direct 
practical  utility,  and  rendered  subservient  to  the  pleasure  of  the 
angler,  as  a  method  of  stocking  inland  waters  ;  and,  secondly,  of 
pointing  out  how  easily  experiments  might  be  made  in  this  modcf 
as  to  the  hybridization  of  fishes,  and  the  rearing  new  species  of  mules, 
or  ascertaining  that  they  cannot  be  reared,  by  the  commixture  of  the 
milt  and  roe  of  various  distinct  species  of  the  same  family  in  small 
tanks,  fed  by  running  brooklets. 

It  has  been  shown  above,  that  the  impregnated  spawn  of  any  two 
live  breeding  fishes  of  the  same  family,  may  be  artificially  hatched 
and  pres3rvod  in  waters  other  than  those  in  which  the  parent  species 
are  wont  to  live  ;  as  even  the  Salmon  in  fresh- water. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  show  that  the  same  result  may  be  obtained 
by  the  commixture  of  the  melt  and  roe  in  aerated  water,  of  dead  fishes  • 
recently  taken. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  water  should  be  aerated,  or  highly 
supplied  with  oxygen.  For  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  finding  water  in  this 
condition,  that  the  Salmon,  the  Shad,  the  Bass,  the  Smelt,  and  all 
those  fish  which  resort  to  fresh-waters,  for  the  purpose  of  spawning, 
run  to  the  shallow,  pure,  and  swiftly-flowing  brooks,  to  which  their 
rapidity  and  frequent  falls  impart  purity  and  vitality,  by  mingling  them 
with  the  atmosphere.  In  the  same  manner,  the  fish  of  the  sea  resort 
for  the  deposition  of  their  ova  to  the  weedy  shoals,  where  the  vegeta- 
bles, in  process  of  their  growth,  under  the  influence  of  the  sno,  distri- 
bute air  through  the  waters  around  them. 

"  The  science  required  for  this  object" — that  is  to  say,  th;  r^'ising 
foreign  fishes  for  the  stocking  of  home  waters — thus  spcuks  Sir  Hum- 
phrey Davy,  in  his  delightful  work,  "  Salmonia" — ^"  is  -^-^sily  attained 
and  the  difficulties  are  quite  imaginary.  The  impregnution  of  the  ova 
of  fishes  is  performed  out  of  the  body,  and  it  is  only  necessary  to 
pour  the  seminal  fluid  from  the  melt  upon  the  ova  in  water.  Mr. 
.facobi,  a  German  gentleman,  who  made,  many  years  ago,  expcrimotits 
on  the  increase  of  Trout  and  Salmon,  informs  us,  that  the  ova  and 
melt  of  mature  fish,  recevtly  dead,  will  produce  living  ofi"spring.  His 
plan  of  raising  Trout  from  the  egg  was  a  very  simple  one.  He  had 
a  box  made  with  a  small  wire  grating  at  one  end  in  the  cover,  fov 
admitting  water  from  a  fresh  source  or  stream,  and  at  the  other  en<? 


70 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


of  the  side  of  the  box,  there  were  a  number  of  holes,  to  allow  the  exit 
of  the  water  ;  the  bottom  of  the  box  was  filled  with  pebbles  and  gravel 
of  different  sizes,  which  were  kept  covered  with  water  that  was  always 
in  motion.  In  November,  or  the  beginning  of  December,  when  the 
Trout  were  in  full  maturity  for  spawning,  and  collected  in  the  rivers 
for  this  purpose,  upon  the  beds  of  gravel,  he  caught  the  males  and 
females  in  a  net,  and  by  the  pressure  of  his  hands  received  the  ova  in 
a  basin  of  water,  and  suflFered  the  melt,  or  seminal  fluid,  to  pass  into 
the  basin  ;  and  after  they  had  remained  a  few  minutes  together,  he 
introduced  them  upon  the  gravel  in  the  box,  which  was  placed  under 
a  source  of  fresh,  cool,  and  pure  water.  In  a  few  weeks  the  eggs  burst, 
and  the  box  was  filled  with  an  immense  number  of  young  Trout,  which 
had  a  small  bag  attached  to  the  lower  part  of  their  body,  containing  a 
part  of  the  yolk  of  the  egg,  which  was  still  their  nourishment.  In  this 
state  they  were  easily  carried  from  place  to  place,  in  confined  portions 
of  fresh-water,  for  some  days,  requiring  apparently  no  food ;  but  after 
about  a  week,  the  nourishment  in  their  bag  being  exhausted,  they 
began  to  seek  their  food  in  the  water,  and  rapidly  increased  in  size. 
As  I  have  said  before,  Mr.  Jacobi  assures  as  that  the  experiment 
succeeded  as  well  with  mature  fish,  that  had  been  killed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  procuring  the  roe  and  the  melt,  these  having  been  mixed 
together  in  cold  water  immediately  after  they  were  taken  out  of  the 
body.  /  Imve  had  fMs  experiment  tried  twice,"  continues  Sir  Hum- 
phrey, speaking  in  his  own  person,  "  aiid,  with  perfect  sticcess ;  and 
it  offers  a  very  good  mode  of  increasing  to  any  extent  the  quantity 
of  Trout  in  rivers  or  lakes  ;  for  the  young  ones  are  preserved  from 
the  attacks  of  fishes,  and  other  voracious  animals  or  insects,  at  the 
time  when  they  are  most  easily  destroyed,  and  perfectly  helpless.  The 
same  plan,  I  have  no  doubt,  would  answer  equally  well  with  Grayling, 
and  other  varieties  of  the  Salmo  genus.  But  in  all  experiments  of 
this  kind,  the  great  principle  is  to  have  a  constant  current  of  fresh  and 
aerated  water  running  over  the  eggs." 

Now  it  is  manifest  from  this,  that  any  person  resident  in  the  near 
vicinity  of  any  lake  or  river,  abounding  in  any  species  of  this  family, 
the  Common  Trout,  the  True  Salmon,  the  Lake  Trout,  and  probably 
the  Otsego  Bass,  Coregonus  Otsego,  which  is  one  of  the  same  family, 
likewise,  having  also  the  command  of  the  smallest  possible  source  of 


SALMON!  DJE. 


71 


fresh  running  water,  can  raise,  in  the  space  of  a  few  weeks  or  months, 
an  indaflnite  number  of  young  fish,  of  any  of  these  varieties,  which, 
during  the  first  week  or  ten  days,  can  bo  removed  to  any  distance  that 
can  be  reached  in  that  time — and,  in  these  days  of  steam  velocity, 
what  distance  cannot  be  reached  ? — in  any  cask,  jar,  or  other  vessel, 
capable  of  containing  a  few  gallons  of  water.  .    .      •; 

There  would  not,  in  this  manner  be  the  smallest  difficulty,  and  very 
small  trouble  or  expense,  in  translating  the  Mackinaw  Salmon  and  the 
Siskawitz  Trout  from  Lake  Huron  and  Superior,  to  the  inland  waters 
of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania — not  the  smallest  uiili- 
culty  in  introducing  the  true  Salmon  from  the  Penobscot  or  the  St. 
John,  to  any  lake,  river,  or  stream,  in  the  Middle  States;  and,  it 
having  been  proved  by  the  expcrimuntH  of  Mr.  Upton,  in  Lilymere, 
as  recorded  above,  that  the  Salmon  will  live  and  preserve  its  excel- 
lence in  fresh-water,  entirely  debarrt^d  from  egress  to  the  sea,  would 
it  not  be  a  highly  interestinf?,  and,  if  suceessful,  valuable,  experiment, 
to  attempt  its  introduction  i  ito  the  hundreds  of  limpid  lakelets  which 
gem  the  inlands  and  uplands  tf  our  Northern  State's  ? 

Again,  as  it  is  well  known  t  :vt  all  tlu;  migratory  fish,  like  the  birds 
of  passage,  return,  whenever  it  is  possible,  to  the  streams  wherein  they 
were  themselves  bred,  to  breed,  it  seems  to  mo  that  it  would  be  well 
worth  the  trying  whether  these  streams  of  ours  here,  to  the  southward 
of  Maine,  which,  within  a  century  or  two,  teemed  with  Salmon,  but  in 
which  one  is  kow  never  seen,  might  not  be  colont7>ed  and  restocked 
with  the  delicious  fish. 

There  is  no  plausil'o  reason  why  the  pinks  wliich  should  be  trans- 
ported to  the  upper  Hudson,  and  should  there  remain  till  they  become 
smolts,  should  not  return  as  grilse  to  tin  scones  of  their  chilc'bond. 

Nor  do  I  see  any  good  reason  why  they  should  not  continue  to  breed ^ 
and  to  frequent  any  river  into  which  th(!y  should  be  so  introduced. 

The  cause  of  their  desertion  of  those  rivers  is  inexplicable.  It  has 
been  attributed  to  steamboats,  but  that  is  ideal ;  for  the  Tay,  the 
Tweed,  and  the  Clvde,  and  half-a-dozen  other  English  and  Scottish 
rivers,  which  still  abound  in  Salmon,  are  harassed  by  more  steam- 
boats, hourly,  than  are  the  Kennebeck  and  Penobscot  now,  or  than 
were  the  Hudson  and  Connecticut  at  the  time  when  the  Salmon  for- 
sook them,  daily 


72 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


I  think  it,  myself,  far  more  probable  that  they  were  poisoned,  and 
driven  from  the  head-waters  and  tributaries,  in  which  they  were  wont 
to  spawn,  by  the  sawdust,  especially  of  the  hemlock  ;  and  that  the 
stock  which  were  used  to  run  up  these  estuaries  having  become  extinct, 
the  traditional  instinct  is  lost,  and  there  are  no  fish  left  which  know 
the  way  to  our  waters. 

If  this  be  a  true  reason — and,  the  known  instinct  of  the  animal  con- 
sidered, it  is  as  plausible  a  conjecture  as  any  other — it  is  certain  that 
many  rivers,  whose  waters  a  few  years  ago  ran  turbid  with  sawdust, 
and  whose  every  tributary  resounded  to  the  clack  of  the  saw-mill,  now 
again  run  as  I'u'jpid  as  ever,  and  arc  guiltless  of  saws,  as  well  as  of  the 
timber  to  sn;-'>)\  tliem. 

I  contend,  thei  i^fore,  that  there  is  no  analogy  against,  but  much  in 
favor  of  iht  posi;i;jility  of  restocking  the  Southern  rivers  of  the  Mid- 
dle St  .tes  with  '-^Mlinon,  which  should  return,  and  breed  in  them,  year 
after  year.  i 

Nor,  looking  to  the  vast  profit  directly  arising  from  such  fisheries, 
can  I  doubt,  particularly  when  regarding  the  action  of  the  New  York 
Legislature  in  regard  to  a  fish  so  comparatively  worthless  as  the  Carp, 
that,  could  such  a  thing  be  efi"ected  as  the  rccolonization  of  our  rivers 
with  Salmon  fry,  some  action  of  the  legislatures  would  ensue  for  their 
protection,  until  such  time  as  they  could  be  fairly  naturalized. 

Whether  this  be  feasible  or  not,  it  is  certain,  that  to  every  inland 
spring-lake,  from  the  western  lino  of  Pennsylvpnia  to  their  easternmost 
and  northernmost  limits,  every  variety  of  Brook  Trout  and  Lake  Trout 
can  be  introduced  with  ease,  and  at  a  trivial  expense ;  nor  these  only, 
but  the  true  Salmon  likewise.  And  I  strongly  believe  that,  when  the 
extreme  simplicity  of  the  method,  and  facility  of  the  means,  become 
generally  known,  the  true  Salmon  will  mc  in' induced,  at  least,  into 
the  lakes  of  Hamilton  County,  as  woii  as  into  many  other  inland 
waters.  In  fact,  running  as  he  does  n  iW  into  Ontaiic,  there  is  no 
reason  why  he  should  not  be  safely  lodged,  beyond  the  power  of  re- 
turning, above  Niagara,  and  compelled  to  fill  Erie,  Michigan,  Huron, 
and  Superior  with  his  noble  race. 

A  few  years  since,  he  found  his  way  into  Seneca  and  Cayuga  Lakes, 
and  if  modern  improvements — heavens !  how  I  loathe  that  word  ! — 
have  not  excluded  him,  he  finds  his  way  there  yet.  and  thence  might 


\\ 


8ALM0NID£. 


73 


be  propagatod,  ad  infinitum^  through  the  whole  region  of  the  lesser 
lakes. 

The  next  point  of  great  value  to  be  attained  by  the  use  of  experi- 
ments of  this  nature,  is  the  ascertaining  how  far  fish  are  capable  of 
hybridization ;  and  possibly  the  creation  of  new  and  interesting  varieties, 
besides  the  elucidation  of  sundry,  now  mooted,  questions  concerning 
the  manner  in  which  various  spacios,  noW  dbtinct,  have  arisen,  and 
whether  in  truth  they  are  distir^t  or  no. 

Now,  it  is  of  course  just  as  easy  to  commingle,  in  the  manner  here- 
tofore described,  the  melt  and  roe  of  two  distinct  varieties,  as  of  the 
same  species ;  and  the  consequences  of  such  an  admixture  would  excite 
the  attention  of  the  whole  scientific  world. 

Anywhere  in  the  northern  and  north-eastern  part  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  anywhere  in  the  northern  parts  of  New  Hampshire,  Ver- 
mont, or  Maine,  it  would  be  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  procure 
the  common  Lake  Trout,  Salmo  Confinis,  if  not  'live,  at  least  within 
a  few  hours  after  his  capture,  and  the  common  B.ook  Trout,  dead  or 
alive,  in  any  desirable  quantities. 

There  is  little  if  any  diflforence  in  the  spawning  period  of  these  two 
Salmonidce,  so  that  it  would  require  very  little  pains  or  attention  to 
procure  the  males  and  females  under  the  circumstances  proper  for  the 
making  of  such  an  experiment,  which  might  be  performed  precisely  as 
I  have  described  it  above  ;  trying,  in  diflForent  instances,  the  males 
and  females  of  the  two  species  alternately. 

There  are  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  little  tumblinir  trans- 
parent  rills,  throughout  that  country — scarcely  a  farm  without  a  doz  mi 
such — which  have  nunxerous  natural  basins  in  their  courses,  each  of 
which,  with  the  aid  of  a  few  hours'  work  employed  in  raising  a  timber 
dam,  and  applying  a  grate  at  the  entrance  and  egress  of  the  stream, 
would  constitute  as  perfect  a  store-pond  for  the  making  of  such  expe- 
riments as  could  be  erected  by  the  wealth  of  Croesus  ;  with  the  advan- 
tage, too,  of  liaving  the  fish  requisite  for  the  tests  existing,  in  a  state 
of  nature,  within  a  few  miles,  perhaps  within  a  few  hunired  yards,  of 
the  scene  of  action. 

One  place  already  made  to  hand,  requiring  no  improvement  or  alte- 
ration, strikes  me  on  the  instant;    and  one  familiar,  I  doubt  not,  to 
very  many  of  my  readers.       I  mean  Barhydt's  Trout-ponds,  near 
6 


74 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


Saratoga  Springs,  whoro  the  Brook  Trout  abound,  in  what  parfectioo 
all  epicures  well  know ;  and  where  the  Lake  Trout  could  bo  obtained, 
with  small  trouble,  alive,  from  the  wators  of  Lake  George,  and  recently 
dead,  without  any  trouble  at  all.  Whether  the  latter  fish  is  found  in 
Saratoga  Lake  or  not,  I  cannot  say ;  but  I  should  rathor  supposo  it  is  ; 
if  so,  the  matter  would  be  yet  further  simplified. 

The  apparatus  described  above,  which  could  be  madj  at  the  cost  of 
a  few  shillings,  might  be  placed  in  the  runway,  bjtw3on  the  upper  and 
lower  ponds,  so  as  to  allow  that  beautifully  clear  and  sparkling  source 
to  bathe  the  ova  constantly,  until  hatched ;  after  which  the  fry  should 
be  kept  in  confined  vessels  until  the  yolks  of  the  egg  wore  absorbed, 
when  they  should  be  transferred  to  one  or  other  of  the  tanks  fed  by 
the  streaiidet.        ,  -. 

In  the  same  manner,  in  many  places,  especially  in  Maine,  near  the 
west  branch  of  the  Penobscot,  where  it  flows  within  a  few  miles  of 
Moosehead  Lake,  the  former  a  favorito  spawning  station  of  the  true 
Salmon,  the  latter  abounding  in  the  large  Lake  Trout  weighing  some- 
times up  to  thirty  or  forty  pounds,  it  might  easily  be  ascertained 
whether  a  hybrid  could  be  obtained  between  these  two  fishes  ;  and 
so,  perhaps,  in  a  greater  degree  upon  the  shores  of  the  great  lakes, 
where  both  these  species  are  taken,  eastward  at  least  of  Niagara. 

A  similar  trial  might  be  made  with  the  ova  of  the  Salmon,  and  of 
the  common  Trout ;  which  could  be  done  with  greater  facility  than 
the  other,  from  the  fact  that  the  two  species  are  constantly  found 
naturally  coexistent  in  the  same  waters. 

Should  any  of  these  experiments  result  in  the  production  of  hybrids, 
another  interesting  question  would  arise,  as  to  whether  the  males  thus 
produced  should  be  again  capable  of  reproducing  their  own  species. 
.Should  this  be  the  case,  it  would  go  very  far  toward  the  breaking  up 
the  whole  theory  of  distinct  species  of  this  family,  and  proving  them 
to  be  merely  accidental  varieties,  casually  produced  at  first,  and  hav- 
ing become,  in  process  of  generations,  capable  of  transmitting  their 
own  peculiar  type  to  their  progeny — as  is  the  case  clearly  with  the  va- 
rious breeds  of  dogs,  horses,  cattle  and  other  domestic  animals,  which, 
so  long  as  they  are  preserved  unmixed,  will  produce  tboir  like  ;  but 
which,  if  inter-bred  with  other  closely-kindred  races,  will  produce  a  mon- 
grel, but  not  a  hybrid — one,  I  mean,  which  is  capable  of  reproduction. 


SALMON!  D£. 


75 


Th\is  Shetland  ponies  breeding  together  will  produce  Shetland 
ponies ;  and  blood-horses  of  the  Arab  stock,  blood-horses. 

Intermix  these,  and  you  shall  have  a  cross-bred  offspring ;  which  is 
not,  however,  a  hybrid,  like  the  produce  of  a  horse  and  an  ass ;  for  it 
is  capable  of  breeding  again,  with  its  own  type,  or  with  either  of  the 
parent  races,  or  with  any  other  pure  horse. 

And  so  of  hounds,  setters,  greyhounds,  and  all  the  varieties  of 
domestic  dogs,  so  long  as  they  are  interbred  among  themselves ;  but 
the  moment  they  are  associated  with  the  wolf,  fox,  jackal,  dingo,  or 
any  of  the  congenerous  though  distinct  races,  they  will  breed  with  them, 
it  is  true,  but  the  progeny  will  be  truly  hybrid  and  barren. 

If,  therefore,  it  should  be  proved  on  experiment,  that  the  variou. 
distinct  species  of  the  Salmonida,  as  they  are  now  held  to  be,  will, 
when  interbred,  produce  young  capable  of  reproduction,  it  would  go 
very  far  to  establish  the  fact  that  the  distinctions  are  not  distinctions, 
but  merely  varieties. 

I  must  not,  however,  be  understood  as  saying  that  the  success  of 
experiments,  and  the  establishment  of  such  a  result  as  I  have  supposed, 
would  go  at  all  to  prove  that  such  intermixture  of  varieties  occurred,  or 
such  cross-breeds  were  produced,  in  a  state  of  nature ;  far  from  it. 

We  know,  that  in  vegetables,  hybrids  can  be,  and  are,  readily  pro- 
duced by  artificial  means,  which  will  not  occur  once  in  a  century,  per- 
haps never  would  occur  at  all,  were  the  plants  left  to  the  operation  of 
nature. 

Nature  abhors  monstrosities ;  and  the  proverb  that  the  "  cat  will 
follow  kind"  is  of  older  wisdom  than  Will  Shakspeare's.  Man's 
freaks  have  raised  mongrels  between  the  lion  and  the  tigress ;  nature's, 
so  far  as  we  know,  or  can  conjecture,  never.  And  always  in  a  wild 
state  a  hundred  circumstances,  such  as  difiFerent  size,  different  habits, 
haunts,  associations,  and  last,  not  least,  fear — one  species  of  the  same 
family  being  habitually  the  devourer  of  his  relatives — will  prevent  the 
occurrence  of  such  admixtures  between  animals. 

It  would  require  many  and  strong  evidencos  to  make  m3  believe 
that  the  Brook  Trout  of  ordinary  dimensions  would  trust  itself  wil- 
lingly within  such  distance  of  the  Salmon,  or  Lake  Trout,  as  would 
permit  their  ova  to  commingle  in  a  single  furrow. 

Nor,  indeed,  do  I  believe,  myself,  that  the  result  of  such  experi- 


76 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


raents  as  tbeaa  last-named  would  be  success ;  although  I  gather  from  a 
note  of  Dr.  Bethune's,  to  his  beautiful  edition  of  Walton,  that  ho 
rather  leans  to  the  opinion  that  the  various  species  of  this  family  wcro 
more  capable  of  intermixture,  and  more  accustomed  to  interbreed,  than 
I  am  disposed  to  credit. 

At  all  events,  there  would  be  groat  interest  and  entertainment  in  the 
instituting  such  a  series  uf  czpci  iments ;  and  the  result,  whatever  it 
should  be,  could  not  fail  of  importance. 

That  those  which  I  first  mentioned  are  eminently  practicable,  is  not 
to  be  doubted ;  and  there  is  strong  reason  for  bolieving  that  this 
science  was  fully  undf^rstood,  and  constantly  practiced,  like  many 
other  good  things  now  forgotten,  or,  as  we  flutter  ourselves,  recently 
discovered,  by  the  monks  of  old. 

That  Carp  were  introduced  from  the  continent  to  England,  by  the 
monks,  is  nf^arly  certain  ;  this,  however,  could  be  accomplished  with- 
out recourse  to  any  artificial  modes  of  producing  or  raising  the  young 
fry.  There  arc,  however,  many  and  powerful  reasons  for  believing 
that  thc>  Grayling  TAymallus  Vcxillifer^  the  Charr,&'a/wio  Umhla^  the 
GvfymvL&yCoregonm  Fera,  and  perhaps,  also,  the  Vcndaco,  Coregonus 
Willughbiijthe  Polluu,  Cc-rgonu!-.  l^o/Jan,  and  the  Powan,  Coregonus 
Lacepedei^vfcre  al^)  introcuc.i!  by  tho  same  agency  from  foreign  coun- 
tries. This  belief  is  supported  by  the  fact,  that  these  fish  exist  only 
*"^  isolated,  and  often  distant  waters ;  sometimes  in  ouly  one  of  two 
•i)'i,'hboring  rivers,  whereof  that  which  contains  them  is  apparently 
ih:  A«ast  adapted  to  their  habits ;  but  always  in  such  waters  as  had 
many  or  distinguished  monastic  institutions  on  their  banks.  VVhilo 
England  was  Catholic,  great  attention  was  paid  to  the  raising  and  fat- 
tening the  choicest  varieties  of  fresh-water  fish  ;  an  art  which  has  sunk 
into  neglect,  partly  owing,  doubtless,  to  the  abolition  of  fast-days,  and 
partly  to  the  great  facility  with  which  the  finest  sea-fish  are  trans- 
ported throughout  the  country. 

If  the  fish  I  have  last  mentioned  were  so  introduced,  it  must  have 
been  by  some  such  process  as  that  which  I  have  here  described  ;  for 
they  are  all  of  so  sensitive  and  delicate  a  nature,  that  it  is  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  they  can  be  kept  alive  for  an  hour  or  two  after 
being  captured,  and  that  only  by  a  constant  change  of  fresh  spring 
water;  circumstances  which  would  have  made  it  utterly  impossible 


n 


6ALM0NIDX. 


77 


that  they  should  have  been  transported  from  the  continent,  after  they 
had  arrived  at  maturity. 

Even  to  this  day,  in  Austria,  Illyria,  and  parts  of  the  Tyrol,  the 
grratcst  attention  is  paid  to  the  nurture  of  tlie  most  delicate  fresh- 
water fishes  in  confined  situations ;  and  Sir  Htimphroy  Davy  states  in 
his  "  Salmonia,"  that,  "  at  Admondt,  in  Styriu,  attached  to  the  mag- 
nificent monastery  of  that  name,  are  abundant  ponds  and  reservoirs  for 
every  species  of  fresh-water  fish  ;  and  the  Chnrr,  Grayling,  and  Trout 
are  preserved  in  different  waters — covered,  enclosed,  and  under  lock 
and  key." 

And  now  having  at  length  come  to  the  end  of  this  so  "  disserta- 
tion on  the  breeding,  growth,  and  specific  generation  o  ,o  Salmon, 
I  shall  briefiy  consider  his  characteristics,  distinguishing  marks  and 
habits,  before  passing  to  his  nearest  relation,  in  this  country  at  least, 
the  Brook  Trout. 

The  Salmon,  Saltno  iMnr^  of  Linnaeus  and  all  authors,  is,  I  have 
observed  before,  a  soft-finned  fish  of  the  abdominal  division,  his  ven- 
tral fins  being  attached  to  the  parietes  of  the  belly.  His  head  is  smooth, 
his  body  scaly.  His  dorsal  fins  are  two  in  number,  the  first  supported 
by  soft  rays,  the  second  adipose  or  fatty,  without  rays ;  he  has  teeth 
on  the  vomer,  both  palatine  bones,  and  all  the  maxillary  bones.  His 
branchiostegous  rays  vary  in  number,  generally,  from  ten  to  twelve, 
but  are  irregular,  and  do  not  always  coincide  on  the  two  sides  of  the 
head.  The  teeth  on  the  vomer  rarely  exceed  two  in  number,  and 
there  is  frequently  but  one ;  a  sign  which  is  thought  to  distinguish  him 
from  the  Salmon  Trout,  and  other  connected  species. 

The  length  of  his  head,  to  the  whole  length  of  his  body,  is  as  one  to 
five  ;  the  eye  small  and  nearer  to  the  point  of  the  nose  than  to  the  pos- 
terior edge  of  the  gill-covei  The  pectoral  fin  is  two-thirds  the  length 
of  the  head,  and  has  twelve  fin-rays.  The  ventral  fin  lies  in  a  vertical 
line  under  the  middle  of  the  dorsal  fin,  and  has  nine  rays ;  the  anal 
fin  commences  about  half-way  between  the  origin  of  the  ventral  and 
caudal  fins,  and  has  nine  rays ;  the  caudal  fin,  or  tail,  has  nineteen 
rays ;  when  the  fish  is  very  young,  it  is  much  forked,  but  as  it  advances 
in  years,  the  central  caudal  rays  grow  up ;  and  it  becomes  nearly 
square  by  the  end  of  the  fourth  year.  The  first  dorsal  fin  has  thirteen 
rays,  all  of  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  two  first,  are  brancbed. 


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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  873-4503 


78 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


The  body  is  long,  and  about  equally  convex  above  and  b;low;  tho 
lateral  line  dividing  the  body  nearly  equally,  and,  to  a  certain  degree, 
parting  the  dark  hue  of  the  back,  and  silvery  whiteness  of  the  belly. 
The  form  of  the  gill-covers,  shapes  of  the  fins,  and  relative  propor- 
tions of  the  whole  fish,  will  be  readily  understood  by  reference  to  the 
plate  facing  page  54,  at  the  head  of  this  article,  which  will  give  a  more 
correct  idea  than  any  written  description. 

The  Salmon  is,  to  all  intents,  a  fish  of  prey ;  and  to  this  end  every 
part  of  his  frame  is  adapted,  in  the  most  perfect  manner,  by  the  master- 
hand  of  nature.  The  elongated  form  of  his  body  tapering  forward  and 
aft  with  the  most  gradually  curvated  lines,  like  the  entrance  and  the 
run  of  some  swift-sailing  barque,  enables  him  to  glide  through  the 
swift  water  in  which  he  loves  to  dwell,  displacing  its  particles  with  the 
least  resistance ;  the  powerful  muscles  and  strong  branched  rays  of  his 
broad  and  vigorous  caudal  fin  serve  as  a  propeller,  by  which  he  can 
command  an  immense  degree  of  momentum  and  velocity,  and  ascend 
the  sharpest  rapids. 

No  one  who  has  once  felt  the  arrowy  rush  of  a  fifteen-pound  Salmon, 
when  struck  with  the  barbed  steel,  will,  be  inclined  to  undervalue  his 
strength,  his  speed,  or  his  agility ;  and  the  numeroiis  and  astonishing 
leaps  which  he  is  capable  of  making,  to  the  height  of  many  feet  above 
the  surface,  either  in  attempting  to  rid  himself  of  the  hook,  or  in  sur- 
mounting obstacles  to  hie  upward  passage,  in  the  shape  of  dams,  flood- 
gates or  cataracts,  prove  the  exceeding  elasticity,  vigor  and  strength  of 
his  muscular  sj^stem. 

The  prodigious  power  of  sinew  exhibited  in  the  lythe  and  springy 
limbs  of  the  quadrupeds  of  prey  of  the  feline -order,  is  not  superior  in 
its  degree  to  that  possessed  by  this,  the  veritable  monarch  of  fresh- 
water fishes;  nor  are  the  curved  fangs  and  retractile  talons  more 
efficacious  instruments  to  the  lion  and  the  tiger  for  the  seizure  of  their 
victims,  than  are  the  five  rows  of  sharp  hooked  teeth,  with  which  the 
whole  mouth  of  the  Salmon  is  bristled,  for  the  prohension  and  deten- 
tion of  his  slippory  and  active  prey. 

Nor  is  he  less  bold,  fierce,  and  persevering,  than  he  is  well  provided 
with  the  means  of  pursuit  and  the  instruments  of  destruction. 

Asa  proof  of  tha  strength  and  courage  of  this  family,  it  is  recorded 
by  Mr.  Yarrel,  that  a  Pike  and  a  Trout,  put  together  in  a  confined 


/ 


8ALM0NIDJEE. 


79 


place,  had  several  battles  for  a  particular  spot,  but  the  Trout  was 
eventually  the  master.  The  comparative  size  of  these  fish  is  not  men- 
tioned^ but  of  course  there  was  something  approaching  to  an  equality, 
as  the  Pike  constantly  preys  on  small  Trout. 

It  is  very  certain  that,  although  great  havoc  is  made  among  Salmon 
by  the  Seal  and  the  Otter,  there  is  no  fresh-water  fish  which  would 
venture  on  attacking  them,  not  even  the  Pike,  at  his  largest  size. 

The  Salmon  grows  to  a  very  large  bulk,  though  the  average  run  is 
probably  from  eight  to  sixteen  pounds ;  and  as  is  the  case  with  many 
kinds  of  fish,  the  middle-sized,  of  twelve  or  fourteen  pounds,  are  gene- 
rally considered  the  best  in  an  epicurean  point  of  view,  and  afford, 
commonly  speaking,  nearly  as  much  sport  when  hooked,  as  tlxe  mon- 
sters of  the  species. 

"  The  present  London  season,  1835,"  says  Mr.  Yarrel,  speaking  on 
this  point,  "  has  been  more  than  usually  remarkable  for  large  Salmon. 
I  have  seen  ten  different  fish,  varying  from  thirty-eight  to  forty  pounds 
each.  A  notice  appeared  in  the  public  papers  of  one  that  weighed 
fifty-five  pounds.  Salmon,  however,  of  much  larger  size  have  been 
occasionally  taken.  Mr.  Mudie  has  recorded  one  of  sixty  pounds. 
Tn  a  note  to  the  history  of  the  Salmon,  in  several  editions  of  Walton, 
mention  is  made  of  one  that  weighed  seventy  pounds ;  Pennant  has 
noticed  one  of  seventy-four  pounds ;  the  largest  known,  as  far  as  I  am 
aware,  came  into  the  possession  of  Mr.  Groves,  the  fishmonger  in 
Bond-street,  about  tho  season  of  1821.  This  Salmon,  a  female, 
weighed  eighty-three  pounds  ;  was  a  short  fish  for  the  weight,  but  of 
very  unusual  thickness  and  breadth.  When  cut  up,  the  flesh  was  fine 
in  color,  and  proved  of  excellent  quality. 

"  The  Salmon  of  the  largest  size  killed  by  angling,  of  which  I  have 
been  able  to  collect  particulars,  are  as  follows :  In  the  Thames,  Oeto- 
ber  3, 1812,  at  Shepperton  Deeps,  Mr.  G.  Marshall,  of  Brewer-street, 
London,  caught  and  killed  a  Salmon  that  weighed  twenty-one  pounds 
four  ounces,  with  a  single  gut,  without  a  lauding-net." 

Sir  Humphrey  Davy  is  recorded  as  having  caught  an  immense  fish, 
weighing  about  forty-two  pounds,  immediately  above  Yair-bridge,  and 
<?aptured  him  after  a  severe  struggle. 

Mr.  Lascelles,  ii  his  letters  on  sporting,  says: — "The  largest 


80 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


Salmon  I  ever  knew  taken  with  a  fly,  was  in  Scotland ;  it  weighed  fifty« 
four  pounds  and  a  half." 

In  this  country,  except  in  Canada,  where  there  are  many  excellent 
and  enthusiastic  Salmon-fishers,  this  noble  sport  is  but  little  followed, 
and  there  are  few  records  extant  of  the  number  or  size  of  fish  taken. 

It  will  be  sufficient  to  observe,  however,  that  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  its  tributaries,  especially  those  great  streams  coming  in  from  the 
Northward,  the  Saguenaw  particularly,  the  number  and  size  of  the 
Salmon  are  at  least  equal  to  those  in  the  finest  English  or  Scottish 
rivers ;  an  intimate  friend  of  my  own  having  killed  within  a  few  years, 
on  the  St.  Lawrence,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  named  above,  twenty 
fish  in  a  single  day's  fishing,  one  of  which  weighed  above  forty  pounds, 
while  the  smallest,  if  I  am  not  greatly  mistaken,  exceeded  sixteen. 
This  was  all  done  with  the  fly. 

"  It  may  be  stated  generally,"  says  Yarrel,  "  that  Saiiuion  pass 
the  summer  in  the  sea,  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  estuary ;  in  autumn 
they  push  up  the  rivers,  diverging  to  their  tributary  streams ;  in  winter 
they  inhabit  the  pure  fresh  water,  and  in  spring  again  descend  to  the 


sea. 


)j 


These  habits  of  the  fish  are  unquestionably  more  or  less  modified  by 
climate  and  other  influences,  and  it  is  certain  that  in  America  the 
Salmon  enter  the  rivers,  and  begin  to  run  up  them  in  June ;  by  Sep- 
tember they  have  arrived  at  the  shallow  and  gravelly  head  waters  of 
the  streams,  and  are  preparing  to  spawn ;  and  I  presume  that  as  soon 
as  that  operation  is  finished  they  return  to  the  salt-water  to  recruit, 
and  consequently  that  here  they  do  not  pass  the  winter  in  fresh-water. 

It  has  been  supposed  by  many  observers,  that  the  Salmon  do  not  go 
very  far  out  to  sea,  but  remain  constantly  within  soundings,  and  not 
very  far  distant  from  their  native  streams,  to  which,  whenever  it  is 
practicable,  they  return ;  this  is,  however,  very  questionable. 

Manyare  taken  on  the  British  coasts,  while  running  along  the  shore 
in  the  summer  months,  and  searching  for  the  mouths  of  the  rivers 
which  they  desire  to  ascend ;  but  very  few  are  taken  here  until  they 
have  made  their  way  up  the  estuaries,  when  they  are  captured  in  great 
Dumbers  by  means  of  stake-nets. 

They  do  not,  it  is  true,  invariably  return  to  the  streams  in  which 
they  were  bred,  although  they  do  so,  beyond  doubt,  in  a  very  great 


8ALM0NID£. 


81 


majority  of  instances ;  but  it  would  appear  from  the  observations  of 
Dr.  Heysham  and  Sir  William  Jardine,  that  if  they  have  roved  to  a 
very  groat  distance  from  the  estuary  of  their  own  stream,  they  betake 
themselves  to  the  mouth  of  the  first  river  they  reach,  if  its  temperature 
and  the  condition  of  its  waters  suits  them. 

Many  Tweed  Salmon  are  occasionally  taken  in  the  frith  o*^  Forth, 
and  it  is  even  said  that  in  seasons  when  the  Forth  fisheries  are  unusu- 
ally successful,  those  of  the  Tweed  are  as  much  the  reverse.  Sir  Hum- 
phrey Davy  is  of  opinion  that  the  taste  of  the  waters  of  different 
rivers,  according  as  they  are  impregnated  with  different  substances, 
and  the  effect  produced  by  them  on  the  bronchias  of  the  fish  in  the  act 
of  breathing,  are  the  guides  by  which  Salmon  are  led  back  to  the  streams 
to  which  they  have  been  accustomed ;  and  ho  accounts  for  their  being 
occasionally  mistaken,  by  the  fact  that  such  mistakes  frequently  occur 
during  great  floods,  connected  with  storms,  or  violent  motion  in  the 
waters  near  the  shore ;  by  which  the  components  of  the  waters  are 
disturbed,  and  their  flavor  consequently  altered.  In  confirmation  of 
this  view,  he  relates  that  he  "  remembers  in  this  way,  owing  to  a  tre- 
mendous flood,  catching  with  the  fly  a  large  Salmon  which  had  mista- 
ken his  stream,  having  come  into  the  Bush,  near  the  Giant's  Cause- 
way, instead  of  the  Bann.  No  fish  can  be  more  distinct,"  he  proceeds, 
**^  in  the  same  species,  than  the  fish  of  these  two  rivers,  their  length  to 
"their  girth  being  in  a  ratio  of  20 : 9  and  20 :  13." 

I  am  not,  however,  inclined  to  adopt  this  explanation.  For  it  seems 
to  me  that  in  migratory  animals  of  all  kinds,  and  indeed,  in  some 
instances,  in  domestic  animals  likewise,  that  there  is  some  sort  of  sixth 
sense,  or  at  least  some  entirely  distinct  power,  not  acquired  by  means 
of  any  of  the  senses  of  which  we  are  cognizant,  nor  acting  like  reason, 
by  means  of  deduction,  which  enables  them  to  steer  their  course 
through  countless  leagues  of  air  or  water,  or  over  miles  of  uncultivated 
land,  to  the  places  where  they  were  bred,  or  to  which  their  instincts 
compel  them  to  resort  for  the  purpose  of  wintering,  obtaining  food,  or 
the  like. 

And  I  no  more  believe  that  Salmon  arc  guided  back  to  their  nativfi 
rivers  by  the  flavor  of  the  waters,  than  I  do  that  the  swallow,  finds 
his  way  from  Africa  to  Europe,  or  from  Southern  to  Northern 
America,  by  the  scent  of  the  tainted  atmosphere. 


M 


82 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


I  am  disposed,  therefore,  to  believe  with  Yorrcl,  that  this  oo- 
casional  variation  from  their  ordinary  custom,  is  caused  by  their 
having  strayed  to  such  a  distance  from  their  native  estuaries,  that 
when  the  time  comes  for  returning,  they  prefer  taking  the  first  suitable 
river,  to  making  longer  delay. 

The  female  fish,  it  is  observed,  are  the  first  to  enter  the  rivers,  and 
the  grilse,  or  young  fish,  which  have  not  yet  spawned,  come  in 
earlier  than  the  fuU-grom  Salmon.  They  swim  with  great  rapidity, 
shoot  up  the  most  oblique  and  glancing  rapids,  with  the  velocity  of  an 
arrow,  and  frequently  leap  falls  of  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  perpendicular 
height. 

It  was  formerly  believed  that,  in  making  their  prodigious  springs, 
the  fish  takes  its  tail  in  its  mouth,  and  shoots  itself  like  a  pliant  stick, 
the  ends  of  which  are  forcibly  brought  together  and  then  allowed  to 
spring.  This,  however,  is  a  fable ;  although,  in  making  these  leaps, 
the  muscular  efforts  of  the  animal  do  really  impart  to  it  a  curvilinear 
form. 

It  is  believed  that  the  utniost  limit  of  perpondicular  height  which 
they  can  attain  is  fourteen  feet ;  but  their  perseverance  is  as  rcmarkabl'3 
as  their  strength,  and  though  they  fail  time  after  time,  and  fall  back 
into  the  stream  below,  they  remain  but  a  few  moments  quiescent,  to 
recruit  their  strength,  before  they  renew  their  efforts ;  and  thjy 
generally  succeed  in  the  end,  although  they  are  said  sometimes  to  kill 
themselves  by  the  violence  of  their  own  efforts  to  ascend,  and  are 
frequently  captured  in  consequence  of  falling  on  the  rocks. 

1  once  watched  a  Salmon  for  above  an  hour  endeavoring  to  pass  a 
mill-dam  on  the  river  VVharfe,  a  Salmon  river  in  the  West  Riding  of 
Yorkshire.  The  dam  was  of  great  height,  thirteen  or  fourteen  feet 
at  least,  and  was  formed  with  a  sort  of  step  midway,  on  which  the 
water  fell,  making  a  double  cascade.  While  I  was  watching  him, 
this  fish,  which  was,  I  suppose,  of  some  seven  or  eight  pounds,  made 
above  twenty  leaps,  constantly  alighting  from  his  spring  about  midway 
the  upper  shoot  of  the  water,  and  being  constantly  swept  back  into 
the  eddy  at  its  foot.  After  a  pause  of  about  a  couple  of  minutes,  he 
would  try  it  again ;  and  such  was  his  vigor  and  endurance,  that  he  at 
last  succeeded  in  surmounting  the  formidable  obstacle ;  and  to  mj^ 


/ 


SALMONIDJE. 


great  pleasure — ^for  I  had  beooma  rcallj  interested  ic  bis  success- 
went  on  his  way  rejoicing. 

The  voracity  of  the  Salmon  is  exoessire ;  and  yet  from  the 
smgular  fact,  that  their  stomachs  are  invariably,  or  almost  invariably, 
found  entirely  empty,  none  of  the  numerous  examiners  have  been  able 
to  satisfy  themselves  what  oonstitut3s  its  principal  support.  The 
stomach  of  the  Salmon  is,  comparatively  speaking,  small ;  and  Sir 
Humphrey  Davy  asserts  that,  out  of  many  which  he  had  opened,  he 
never  found  anything  in  their  stomachs,  but  the  tape-worms  bred 
there,  and  some  yellow  fluid.  This  peculiarity  must,  I  think,  be  in  a 
great  measure  attributsd  to  their  rapid  digestion.  In  this  they  differ 
greatly  from  the  Salmon  Trout,  which  is  constantly  found  stuffed  with 
food  of  all  sorts,  the  remains  of  small  fish,  beetles,  insects,  and  the 
sand-hopper,  Talitris  locusta^  which  would  seem  to  bo  their  favorite 
food. 

Dr.  Knox  states,  that  the  food  of  the  Salmon,  and  that  on  which 
all  its  estimable  qualities,  and  in  his  opinion,  its  very  existence 
depends,  and  which  the  fish  can  only  obtain  in  the  ocean,  he  has 
found  to  be  the  ova,  or  eggs  of  various  kinds  of  cchinodermata,  and 
some  of  the  Crustacea.  From  the  richness  of  the  food  on  which  the 
true  Salmon  solely  subsists,  arises,  at  least  to  a  certain  extent,  the 
excellent  quality  of  the  fish  as  an  article  of  food.  Something, 
however,  must  be  ascribed  to  a  specific  distinction  of  the  fish  itself ; 
for  though  he  has  ascertained  that  the  Salmon  Trout  lives  in  some 
localities  on  very  much  the  same  kind  of  food  as  the  tms  Salmon,  yet, 
under  no  circumstances  does  this  fish  ever  attain  the  same  exquisite 
fiavor  as  the  true  Salmon."  .  • 

Dr.  Fleming  states  that  their  favorite  food  is  the  sand-eel ;  "  I 
have  myself,"  says  Mr  Yarrel,  ^'  taken  the  remains  of  the  sand- 
launce  from  their  stomach."  It  is  known,  moreover,  that  they  are 
taken  in  Scotland  by  linos  baited  with  th!s  brilliant  and  glittering 
little  fish ;  as  are  the  clean-run  fish,  fresh  from  the  sea,  with  the 
common  earth-worm.  Mr.  Yarrel  mentions  an  instance  of  one  being 
taken  in  the  Wye  with  a  minnow,  and  Sir  Humphrey  Davy  states, 
he  has  fished  for  them  in  the  Tay  with  great  success,  with  the  Parr, 
probably  their  own  younw  fry,  on  spinnina;  tackle. 

For  what  they  mistake  the  large  artificial  fly,  by  which  they  are  so 


84 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


maryellously  allured,  taking  it  greedily,  at  a  very  short  distance  from 
the  sea,  wo  cannot  determine.  It  is  like  nothing  that  has  any  existence 
in  nature ;  and  some  persons  have  imagined  that  the  Salmon  is 
deceived  by  the  gay  colors  and  the  ripple  of  the  water,  and  so  takes 
them  for  small  fish.  This  is  not  credible,  however ;  and  the  most 
plausible  suggestion  is  that  of  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  that  the  fish,  on 
their  return  from  salt  water,  where,  of  course,  they  find  nothing 
analogous  to  the  natural  or  artificial  fly,  are  actuated  "  by  a  sort  of 
imperfect  recollection  of  their  early  food  and  habits  ;  for  flies  form  a 
great  part  of  the  food  of  the  Salmon  fry,  which  fui  a  month  or  two 
after  they  are  hatched,  feed  like  young  Trouts — and  in  March  and 
April,  the  spring  flics  are  their  principal  nourishment.  In  going  back 
to  fresh  water,  they  may  perhaps  have  their  habits  of  feeding 
recalled  to  them,  and  naturally  search  for  their  food  at  the  surface." 

While  I  am  on  this  topic,  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  quote  the 
relation  of  an  experiment  tried  with  regard  to  the  effect  of  various 
kinds  of  food  on  the  Trout,  as  it  is  probable  that,  in  fish  so  closely 
allied,  the  facts  would  not  vary  much  in  relation  to  the  Salmon. 

Mr.  Stoddart  relates  this,  in  his  "  Art  of  Angling  as  practised  in 
Scotland ;"  but  the  experiment  was  made  in  the  South  of  England. 
-'  Fish  were  placed  in  three  separate  tanks ;  one  which  was  supplied 
daily  with  worms,  another  with  live  minnows,  and  the  third  with  those 
small  dark-colored  water  flies,  which  are  to  be  found  moving  about 
on  the  surface,  under  banks  and  sheltered  places.  The  Trout  fed  with 
worms  grew  slowly,  and  had  a  lean  appearance.  Those  nourished 
on  minnows,  which,  it  was  observed,  they  darted  at  with  great 
voracity,  became  much  larger;  while  such  as  were  fattened  upon 
flies  only,  attained  in  a  small  time,  prodigious  dimensions,  weighing 
twice  as  much  as  both  the  others  together  ;  although  the  quantity  of 
food  swallowed  by  them  was  in  no  wise  so  great." 

I  may  here  observe  that,  from  the  fact  of  the  Salmon  roe,  when 
preserved  secundum  arteniy  proving  a  most  deadly  and  infallible  bait 
for  Salmon— so  much  so  indeed,  that  the  use  of  it  in  England  is 
regarded  as  unsportsmanlike,  and  as  an  act  of  poaching — there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  the  ova  of  fishes  of  all  kinds  contribute  to  their 
food,  and  add  probably  to  the  richness  of  their  fiesh. 

I  have  now  gone  through,  I  believe,  all  that  is  most  remarkable  and 


/    . 


( 


\ 


ttALMONIDA. 


S5 


mo8t  interesting  in  relation  to  tbo  natural  history,  the  form,  habits, 
food  and  seasons  of  this  noble  fish  ;  but  thoso  who  wish  to  study  him  for 
themselves,  and  read  concerning  him  more  at  Inrgo  than  th3  space, 
which  can  be  allotted  to  a  single  specimen  in  this  volume,  will  admit,  I 
refer  to  YarrePs  fine  work  on  British  Fishes ;  to  that  delightful  work 
"Salmonia,"  by  Sir  Humphrey  Davy ;  and  to  Scrope's  superb  work, 
entitled,  "  Days  and  Nights  of  Salmon  Fishing,"  which,  though  I 
have  not  enjoyed  an  opportunity  of  examining  it,  I  understand  to  be 
both  the  finest  and  the  most  complete  treatise  on  this  topic. 

In  a  future  portion  of  the  work,  I  shall  enter  at  large  upon  all  the 
minutise  of  rods,  tackle,  bait,  &c.,  necessary  for  the  capture  of  the 
king  of  the  fresh-waters  ;  as  well  as  upon  the  science  of  taking  him 
with  the  artificial  fly,  and  all  the  appliances  to  that  end.  Until  then, 
adi3u  to  Salmo  Salar. 


.",    '-   \ 


/' 


86 


AMERIOAK    FtSilES. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERTGII. 


SALMONIDifi 


Bkook  Trout,  vert  Yooiia  Fit. 

THE   BROOK  TROUT. 

THE    COMMON    TROUT THE    TROUTLKT.* 

Thb  New  York  Coarr  ;  Richardson.— 5a2mo  Fontinalis;  DeKay. 

liiKE  the  wild  animals  of  this  continent,  almost  without  exception, 
the  Trout  of  America  is  a  distinct  species  from  the  fish  of  Europe  ; 
although,  as  in  many  other  instances,  the  general  resemblance  is  so 
strong,  and  the  characteristic  differences  so  narrow,  that  in  the  eyes 
of  a  common  observer,  judging  from  memory  only,  they  appear  to  be 
identical. 

Many  sportsmen,  who  have  been  in  the  habit  of  killing  this  beau- 
tiful fish,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  are  under  the 
impression  that  there  is  no  material  difference ;  but  such  is  not,  in 
truth,  the  case ;  for  as  with  the  snipe,  the  teal,  the  widgeon,  and 
many  others  of  the  birds  of  America,  the  characteristic  marks  of 
distinction,  though  easily  overlooked  at  first,  by  a  person  unacquainteo 

*  This  name  is  applied  to  the  fish  while  in  the  state  represented  in  the  cri  above, 
by  Dr.  DeKay. 


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^^l^•|.•^^    \N     I     ■•  * 


Brook  Thoit.    i«it»   Vviir*  P«t- 


^.rMOMJ).!!. 


*■ 


lii'S'' 


t. 


THE    nUOOK    i  UOV'T. 

TJIE    (  (JMMOX    •IKt.'i'T. — TH  »'        h.>l..  I'm;  f.* 

ffi*  Nkw  York  CiiAittt ;  IJicIiardwi-.i  — .'Ju/w    F'mtiix^lu ;  IVKuv. 

Li',  '.  Ibf  wild  antTiials  of  fbis  Cdiitinent,  !»li(«».'jit  wul..^»it  isxeeption, 
the  1  ro  ii  •  i'  Aifli.'tiya  is  a  di.';{!a'ct  spreies  fS.m  th«;  R.4t  of  l:!uroj)i;  ; 
altboagh,  «^  ♦«  iiitHj'  i>th;'r  inst  mcos,  tlu>  j^Oiif.ral  rrf'einbl.vji.'f  ig  so 
atrouff,  Rn  •  *?'!«  chamctcristifc  (iifforcntu »  so  narrow,  tU'i^'  -n  tha  eyas 
<)(  I  coMDi.Au  ■  W'Tvor,  JD'igiug  tVoiM  uKMiiorf  only,  tl  v  :ipprnir  to  be 

'(.«.!.•  t?port.j»Jt«r> .  who  havi  bron  in  ih*  Kftbit  of  liiliiu,'^  this  bouri- 
tifisi    £v'*i,  both    i^M    'iiis    couiiti-y    i),../    .a     Kiircrpr*,    avo   imdor    tho 

n«pii>K'' ■   (lint  1  •  Ti(/  niuti.'i'i;^* -ijyijKSiTenoe  ;  but  suoli  i-i  not,  in 

traih,  th-       >  '  ,    ■  'vlth   the  s:  t'",  th'?  t,val,  tho  widguoti,  and 

main    nth    ^     »i  t!u;  ^    .\.m<M)>  •!.  th«  (»harai.:li;n,stic  marks  of 

distif/'Miin,  '■-  c-igh  feteiij  ,  ■^v.rri.hiifev^d  at  fe"«t,  bv  n  person  iin:iO!|ii;»intoo 

*  This  uamo  '■«  <.{*plied  to  Ik*  &*'*«rU»}«  net  the  if»(il<!  n-prptojiKH*  in  ilii^  cvl  ahovp. 
by  Dr.  DcKav. 


I- 


I 


C/O 


I    ° 

I       i 


A       S 


o 


.:>.•    — 


CO 


m 


p^*' 


41 


V 


/^ 


SALMONID^. 


87 


with  them,  when  once  pointed  out,  cannot  be  readily  mistaken,  and, 
being  both  permanent  and  invariable,  are  quite  sufficient  to  establish 
diversity  of  species. 

It  is  not  in  formation,  moreovor,  or  appearance  only,  but  in  very 
many  of  its  habits,  that  the  Brook  Tr(  it,  Salmo  Fontinalis^  of  Ame- 
rica, diflfers  from  his  congener,  the  common  Trout,  Salmo  Fario,  of 
Europe. 

Still,  in  general,  his  manners,  his  haunts,  his  prey,  and  his  mode  of 
taking  it,  so  closely  resemble  those  of  the  European  Trout,  that  as  a 
general  rule,  the  instructions  given  for  the  taking  the  one  will  be  found 
successful  as  regards  the  other ;  and  the  flies,  baits,  and  general  style 
of  tackle,  as  well  as  the  science  of  capturing,  with  some  few  excep- 
tions, which  will  be  noticed  hereafter,  arc  nearly  identical,  on  the 
two  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  As  in  Europe,  so  in  America,  although 
there  are  countless  varieties  of  this  most  beautiful  of  fishes,  almost 
indeed  a  variety  for  every  stream,  still,  according  to  the  opinions  of 
'  what  I  deem  the  best  authorities,  there  is  but  one  distinct  species. 

Endless  attempts  have  been  made  in  England  to  distinguish  and 
define  fresh  species;  but  these  have,  in  my  judgment,  all  failed. 
According  to  Mr.  Agassiz,  whose  opinion  on  this  subject  I  consider 
paramount  to  all  others,  the  Gillaroo,  or  Gizzard-trout,  as  it  is  some- 
times erroneously  called  by  the  Irish,  and  some  of  the  Scottish  writers, 
is  merely  a  casual  variety  of  the  Salmo  Fario.  The  distinction,  which 
consists  principally  in  the  thickness  and  induration  of  the  stomach, 
having  arisen  from  feeding  on  shell-fish,  in  the  first  instance,  in  indi- 
viduals, has  been  gradually  ingrafted  on  generations,  until,  in  process 
of  time,  it  has  become  a  permanent  type. 

Although  this  variety  is  not  known  to  exist  on  tliis  continent,  I  have 
a  very  strong  suspicion,  from  many  circumstances  which  I  have  heard, 
on  good  authority,  concerning  the  Trout  of  the  Marshpee  river,  in  Mas- 
sachuscts,  that  on  examination,  it  will  be  found  to  possess  some  of  the 
leading  peculiarities  of  this  fish,  particularly  the  indurated  stomach. 
I  have  never  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  Trout  of  this  river  ; 
but  I  know  that  it  has  many  peculiarities  of  habit  resembling  those  of 
the  Gillaroo,  especially  that  of  feeding  on  shell-fish,  a  friend  of  mine 
having  actually  succeeded  in  taking  them  with  small  white  crabs,  at  a 
time  when  they  would  look  at  no  other  bait. 


88 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


I  mention  this,  merely  by  way  of  suggestion,  as  offering  an  interesting 
subject  of  investigation  for  naturalists. 

Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  in  his  Salmonia,  rather  leans  to  the  idea  that 
the  Gillaroo  is  a  distinct  species,  though  he  luavos  it  uncertain  whether 
it  may  not  be  a  permanent  variety ;  his  principal  argument  being 
this,  that  he  has  caught  small  fish,  not  longer  than  the  finger,  with  a 
fly,  "  which  had  as  perfect  a  hard  stomach  as  the  larger  ones,  with  the 
coats  as  thick  in  proportion,  and  the  same  shells  within." 

In  external  appearance,  the  Gillaroo  is  said  to  differ  from  the  com- 
mon Trout  "  very  little,  except  that  they  have  more  red  spots,  and  a 
yellow  or  golden-colored  belly  and  fins,  and  are  generally  a  broader 
and  thicker  fish."  Again,  Sir  Humphrey  admits  that "  in  a  clear  and 
cool  river,  fish  that  feed  much  on  larvae,  and  swallow  the  hard  cases, 
become  yellower,  and  the  red  spots  increase  so  as  to  outnumber  the 
black  ones ;  and  these  qualities  become  fixed  in  the  young  fishes,  and 
establish  a  particular  variety." 

This  would  seem,  in  plain  English,  to  describe  the  existence  of  a 
fish  in  the  direct  process  of  change,  from  the  ordinary  form  of  the 
Trout  to  the  Gillaroo,  the  feeding  on  the  larva9  of  winged  insects,  in 
their  hard  stony  cases,  being,  as  it  were,  a  first  step  toward  becoming 
shell-fish  eaters,  and  the  effect  being  indicated  in  the  gradual  change 
of  color,  though  the  causes  have  not  been  as  yet  sufficiently  powerful 
to  produce  the  induration  of  the  stomach. 

In  America,  likewise,  it  has  been  attempted  to  draw  a  distinction ; 
and  Dr.  DeKay,  a  very  accomplished  and  able  icthyologist,  although 
perhaps — ^with  all  deference  be  it  spoken — rather  too  much  of  an  in- 
door naturalist,  and  too  much  inclined  to  admit  hearsay  evidence,  has 
designated  a  species  as  Salmo  Erythrogaster^  the  Red-bellied  Trout ; 
which  I  confess  I  do  not  believe  to  be  even  a  permanent  variety,  but 
merely  a  brilliant  specimen  of  the  common  Brook  Trout,  in  its  highest 
season,  taken,  probably,  from  some  very  bright  and  sunny  water.  In 
this  view  I  am  fully  sustained  by  Professor  Agassiz,  who  has  made 
some  very  curious  experiments  with  regard  to  the  colors  of  fishes,  of 
the  SalmonidcB  especially  ;  and  who  has  ascertained,  beyond  a  doubt, 
not  only  that  the  Trout  of  different  neighboring  waters  are  affected  by 
the  color  and  quality  of  the  water,  but  that  the  Trout  of  the  same  rivet 
vary  in  color  accordingly  as  they  haunt  the  shady  or  the  sunny  side  of 


BALMONIDiE. 


89 


the  stream.  For  it  b  a  well-known  fact,  that  the  Salmonida^  although 
many  of  them  are  migratory  at  certain  seasons,  have  their  own  haunts 
and  hunting  grounds  to  which  they  steadily  adhere,  moving  but  a  short 
distance  from  one  spot,  in  pursuit  of  their  prey,  and  returning  to  it 
when  satisfied. 

Thus,  in  a  mountain-brook,  you  shall  find,  perhaps,  that  the  pool 
between  an  upper  and  lower  fall  or  rapid  is  occupied  by  two  fish ;  one 
of  these  will  lie  at  the  head,  the  other  at  the  tail,  of  the  pool,  the  more 
powerful  fish  selecting  the  spot  which  he  chooses,  and  neither  ex- 
changing places,  nor  hunting  far  from  his  habitual  haunts. 

In  still  waters,  in  like  manner,  you  will  find  that,  day  after  day,  the 
same  large  Trout  will  bo  seen  under  this  bank,  by  that  large  stone,  or 
in  the  cavity  formed  by  the  roots  of  yon  ash  or  alder ;  and  that  he  will 
not  stray  to  any  distance  from  it,  but  will  seek  his  prey  nearly  in  the 
same  waters,  and  on  the  same  side  of  the  river,  the  opposite  bank  being 
probably  held  by  a  rival  fish. 

That  this  will  at  first  be  deemed  far-fetched  and  improbable,  I  think 
likely  enough ;  but  the  more  we  consider  it,  the  more  reasonable  shall 
it  appear ;  for  when  wo  weigh  the  great  influence  of  light  in  the  pro- 
duction of  colors,  and  then  think  how  much  the  transmission  of  light 
through  different  media,  as,  for  instance,  waters  of  different  degrees  of 
density,  purity,  and  color,  affects  the  light  itself,  we  shall  find  the 
theory  far  less  extravagant  than  it  strikes  us  at  a  first  glance. 

And  here,  I  shall  quote  an  anecdote,  related  in  Salmonia,  for  the 
purpose  of  elucidating  an  entirely  different  point,  which  yet  is  so  much 
to  the  purpose,  in  the  present  instance,  that  it  is  even  more  valuable 
in  illustration  of  this,  than  of  that  for  which  it  is  quoted. 

''  A  manufacturer  of  carmine,"  thus  i  <«  the  story,  "  who  was  aware 
of  the  superiority  of  the  French  color,  ,,  ';  to  Lyons  for  the  purpos3 
of  improving  his  process,  and  bargained  with  the  most  celebrated  man- 
ufacturer in  that  capital  for  the  acquisition  of  his  secret,  for  which  he 
was  to  pay  a  thousand  pounds.  He  was  shown  all  the  processes,  and 
saw  a  beautiful  color  produced,  yet  he  found  not  the  least  difference  in 
the  French  mode  of  fabrication  and  that  which  he  had  constantly 
adopted.  He  appealed  to  the  manufacturer,  and  insisted  that  he  must 
have  concealed  something.  The  manufacturer  assured  him  that  he 
had  not,  and  invited  him  to  see  the  process  a  second  time.  He  min- 
7 


90 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


utely  examinsd  the  water,  and  the  materials,  which  were  the  same  as 
his  own,  and,  very  much  surprised,  said, '  I  have  lost  my  labor  and 
my  money,  for  the  air  of  England  does  not  permit  us  to  make  good 
carmine.'  '  Stay,'  says  the  Frenchman, '  do  not  deceive  yourself;  what 
kind  of  weather  is  it  now  .^'  *  A  bright  sunny  day,'  said  the  Eng- 
lishman. *■  And  such  are  the  days,'  said  the  Frenchman, '  on  which  1 
make  my  color.  Were  I  to  attempt  to  manufacture  it  on  a  dark  or 
cloudy  day,  my  results  would  be  the  same  as  yours.  Let  me  advise 
you,  my  fri-^nd,  to  make  your  carmins  on  bright  sunny  days.'  '  I  will,' 
says  the  Eujjlishman, '  but  I  fear  I  shall  make  very  little  in  London.' " 

Now  this  anecdote  may  be  depended  upon;  for  a  person  so  distin- 
guished as  a  chemist  and  natural  philosopher  as  Sir  Humphrey  Davy, 
would  not  have  related  a  story  in  regard  to  the  eflFect  of  light,  which 
was  contrary  to  truth,  or  which  he  did  not  directly  know  to  be  true. 

And  if  the  effect  of  sunshine  is  so  great  on  color,  as  that  the  in- 
crease or  decrease  of  its  brilliancy  should  cause  a  totally  different 
result  to  follow  from  the  combination  of  precisely  the  same  chemical 
ingredients,  it  will  readily  follow  that  much  more  effect  will  be  pro- 
duced by  its  excess  in  one  cas3,  or  almost  total  exclusion  in  another, 
upon  hues  so  changeful  as  those  which  glitter  on  the  scales  of  a  fish. 

That  in  a  pure  limpid  rapid  stream,  rushing  over  a  bright  gravelly 
bed,  through  open  fields,  where  no  envious  boughs  intercept  the  sun- 
light, and  in  a  dark  turbid  pond,  the  waters  of  which  arc  saturated 
with  the  draining  of  poat-bogs,  or  with  the  juices  of  decomposed  vege- 
table matter,  and  overshadowed  by  thick  evergreen  umbrage,  the  light 
even  of  the  most  gorgeous  noon  will  be  transmitted  in  very  different 
degrees,  and  produce  very  different  effects  both  of  color,  heat  and 
radiance,  any  person  can  judge,  who  will  observe  the  sunbeams  as  they 
fall  through  a  sheet  of  pure  plate-glass,  or  a  thick  green  bull's-eye ; 
and  that  the  consequences  may  easily  be  as  they  are  stated  above,  he 
will,  I  think,  be  satisfied. 

Now,  in  the  first  place,  analogous  to  this,  and  in  corroboration  of 
this  view  of  the  subject,  I  will  remark  here,  that  one  of  the  principal 
external  differences  between  the  American  and  the  European  Trout, 
is  precisely  as  might  be  expected  under  the  views  taken  above.  The 
climate  here  being  far  more  sunny,  the  atmosphere  drier  and  more 
transparent,  and  the  weather  more  constant  and  lightsome,  we  find  that 


\ 


^ 


f    ■ 


/ 


8ALM0NID£. 


91 


the  Trout  of  America  h  a  lighter  uolored,  brighter,  gayer,  and  more 
gor^^dous  creature  than  his  European  kinsman.  And,  farther  yet,  yfs 
shall  find  that  in  the  purest  and  most  limpid  streams,  in  the  lakes  which 
to  the  most  transparent  waters  add  the  sunniest  expanse,  the  brightest 
and  most  beautiful  Trout  are  taken ;  while  in  black  boggy  waters,  or 
in  forest-embowered  rivers,  the  colors  of  the  fish  are  rather  dim  and 
dusky. 

This  is  not,  however,  merely  a  matter  of  theory  and  analogy,  for 
experiments  have  been  actually  tried  on  this  point,  and  with  perfect 
success.  Mr.  Agassiz  assures  me  that  he  has  repeatedly  known  very 
brilliant  and  gaily-colored  fish,  taken  in  clear  and  sunshiny  waters,  and 
transferred  to  neighboring  pools  or  streams  of  totally  different  charao<- 
tor,  to  begin  to  fade  and  lose  the  intensity  of  their  colors,  Bousibly, 
within  a  very  few  hours,  and  after  a  few  days  or  weeks,  to  be  entirely 
undistiuguishable  from  the  native  fish  of  the  place. 

This  accounts,  at  once,  for  the  facts  so  often  stated,  and  seemingly 
so  inexplicable,  of  two  lakos  communicating  with  each  other  by  a  com- 
mon channel,  and  containing  two  distinct  varieties  of  Trout,  one  beau- 
tiful, and  excellent  upon  the  table,  the  other  dark-colored  and  ill-tasted, 
the  two  varieties  n over  b3ingknown  to  intermingle,  or  to  exchange  from 
one  to  the  other  water. 

The  explanation  of  this  apparent  phenomenon  is,  that  the  change  pro- 
duced by  passing  from  the  dark  and  poat-soilod  waters  of  the  one  lake, 
to  the  limpid  element  of  the  other,  in  the  fish,  is  so  rapid,  that  they 
assimilate  themselves  almost  instantaneously,  in  outward  appearance, 
to  the  fish  into  whose  society  they  havD  emigrated.  •' 

.  The  lakelet,  known  as  Stump-pond,  on  the  northern  side  of  Long 
Island,  which,  as  its  nam?  indicates,  is  filled  with  thcbuttsof  dead  trees, 
and  saturated  with  vegetable  matter,  has  been  for  many  years  famous, 
or  I  should  rather  say  infamous,  for  the  ugliness,  want  of  brilliancy, 
and  indifferent  quality  in  a  culinary  point  of  view,  of  its  Trout,  as  com- 
pared with  those  of  the  bright  and  transparent  mill-ponds  and  rivulets 
of  the  south  side.  No  one,  however,  has  ever  thought  of  erecting  them 
into  a  species,  or  of  designating  them  as  Salmo  Stumppondiciis,  seeing 
clearly  the  cause  and  effect ;  and  lo  !  now  of  late  years,  as  the  cause 
is  passing  away  with  the  process  of  time,  the  effect  is  also  disappearing ; 
as  the  vegetable  matter  is  decaying,  being  absorbed,  and  swept  away. 


93 


AMERICAN  FISHES 


and  as  the  purifying  influences  of  the  springs  are  gaining  upon  the  cor- 
rupt and  stagnant  qualities  of  the  pond,  the  fishes  are  likewise  becoming 
brighter  and  better.  In  the  course  of  a  few  more  years,  it  is  probable 
that  they  will  be  scarcely  distinguishable  from  the  finely-formed  and 
finely-colored  fish  of  Snedecor's  or  Carman's  streams,  at  Islip  and  Fire- 
place. 

Doubtless,  other  causes  besides  the  influence  of  light,  have  their 
effect  both  upon  the  app3arance  and  the  flavor  of  the  Trout ;  we  have 
seen  that  their  color  is  affected  by  the  shell-fish,  or  even  the  larvae  of 
flies,  on  which  they  feed ;  we  have  also  seen  that  they  increase  in 
weight,  size,  and  fatness,  according  as  they  are  nourished  with  worms, 
with  small  fry,  or  with  water-flies ;  and  no  one  in  his  senses  can  doubt, 
I  imagine,  that  if  these  fish  which  have  obtained  scarlet  spots,  and 
become  golden-finned  and  golden-bellied  by  feeding  on  sh'ell-fish,  or 
crustaceous-cased  insects,  were  confined  upon  a  regimen  of  dew-worms 
or  May-flies,  they  would  gradually  relapse  into  their  original  coloring. 

Nor  can  it  be  supposed,  I  think,  judging  from  all  analogy,  but  that 
the  Gillaroo  Trout,  kept  permanently  in  situations  where  it  could  never 
find  either  shell-fish,  or  any  hard  edible  substances,  would  gradually 
lose  the  distinctive  hardness  of  its  stomach,  as  well  as  its  characteristic 
coloring.  The  probability  is,  that  the  young  fry  of  a  finger's  length, 
spoken  of  by  Sir  Humphrey,  would  lose  the  distinction  individually ; 
and  I  do  not  at  all  conceive  it  likely  that  the  characteristic  would  sur- 
vive through  two  generations  from  the  largest  adult. 

While  I  am  writing  on  this  point,  I  will  cite  a  fact,  though  it  belongs 
with  greater  propriety  to  the  hLotory  of  another  fish,  the  Greatest  Lake 
Trout,  Salmo  Ameihystus,  vihen  describing  which,  it  will  be  noticed 
more  fully.  This  is  simply  that  in  the  same  lakes,  Huron  and  Superior, 
this  same  fish  exists  in  three  different  states  of  color,  so  totally  dissimilar, 
that  it  is  supposed  by  the  French  inhabitants  of  the  shores,  to  be  three 
distinct  fishes,  and  is  known  by  three  distinct  names,  according  to  the 
situations  in  which  it  is  found,  and  by  which  ite  coloring  is  evidently 
affected. 

Drawings  of  the  fish  in  two  of  these  stages  are  now  lying  before  me, 
and  will  be  presented  to  my  readers  under  the  proper  head ;  here,  it 
will  be  sufficient  to  state  that,  but  for  the  shape  of  the  head  and  gill- 
covers,  the  form  of  the  fins  and  the  number  of  the  fin-rays,  things  not 


J 


SALMONfDJr.  98 

examined  by  the  superficial  observer,  they  would  poM  for  different  fish. 
These  three  varieties  are  known  as  the  IVuUe  de  Chrhve,  Truile  de$ 
Batturesy  and  Truite  du  Large ;  or,  Trout  of  the  muddy  bottom,  Trout 
of  the  rocky  shores,  and  Trout  of  the  open  waters ;  the  first  being  a 
dull  mud-colored  fish,  the  second  bright  and  handsomely  mottled,  and 
the  last  bluish  and  silvery,  and  resembling  more  »  clean'rnn  Salmon 
than  aLake  Trout. 

This  is  so  fairly  a  case  in  point,  that  I  cannot  resist  quoting  it  here, 
as  it  is  perfectly  evident  that  there  is  no  real  distinction  whatever ;  and 
if  this  be  so  of  one  variety  or  species,  there  is  no  reason  for  doubting 
that  like  causes  will  produce  like  effects,  in  the  congenerous  species. 
Again,  it  is  not  only  possible,  but  in  the  highest  degree  probable,  that 
the  different  chemical  substances  which  are  held  in  solution  by  the 
waters  of  various  streams  and  lakes,  may  not  be  without  their  infiucncc 
on  the  coloring  of  their  inhabitants.  I  think  I  have  myself  observed, 
both  on  this  continent  and  in  Europe,  that  the  Trout  in  streams  flow- 
ing from  lime-stone  formations  are  more  lustrous,  and  more  strongly 
spotted  than  those  of  duller  and  less  lively  waters. 

That  the  fish  of  streams  rushing  rapidly  over  pebbly  beds,  are  supe- 
rior  in  all  respects,  both  of  appearance  and  quality,  to  those  of  ponds 
or  semi-stagnant  brooks,  is  confessedly  notorious ;  but  this  may  arise 
not  so  much  from  any  particular  components  of  the  waters  themselves, 
as  from  the  fact  that  rapidly-moving  and  falling  water  is  more  highly 
aSrated,  the  atmosphere  being  more  freely  intermingled  with  it,  and 
therefore  more  conducive  to  the  health  and  condition  of  all  that  in- 
habit it. 

Independently  of  DeKay's  Salmo  ErythrogaUer^  I  find  mention 
made  in  the  "  American  Angler's  Guide,"  of  the  Silver  Trouiy  the 
Common  Trout j  the  Common  Trout  of  Ma$taehutett$^  the  Black  Trout ^ 
the  Sea  Troutj  and  the  Hucho  Trout ^  although  to  none  of  these  except 
the  last,  is  any  scientific  name  attached. 

I  beg,  however,  to  assure  my  readers,  that  there  are  no  such  distinc- 
tions existing  in  nature.  The  Silver  Trout,  which  is  stated  to  be  found 
in  almost  all  of  our  clear,  swift-running  northern  streams,  and  to  weigh 
from  one  to  fifteen  pounds,  is  in  no  respect  a  different  fish  from  the 
common  Trout  of  Long  Island ;  nor  does  that  fish  differ  in  any,  the 


04 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


smallest,  particular  from  the  Trout  of  Masaaohusctts,  or  of  any  otlier 
place  in  the  United  Statss,  where  the  Trout  exists  at  all. 

I  wish  greatly,  that  the  author  of  the  "  American  Angler^s  Guide  *' 
had  given  some  authority  for  his  statement,  that  this  fish  is  taken  in 
this  country  up  to  fifteen  pounds,  or  even  up  to  half  that  weight.  I 
have  myself  some  slight  suspicion  that  such  is  the  case  rarely,  in  the 
northern  lakes — I  do  not  mean  the  great  lakes — of  Now  York  and 
New  England ;  and  that  it  is  there  mistaken  for  some  new  species,  or 
a  variety  of  the  Lake  Trout,  from  which  it  differs  far  more,  in  all 
respects,  than  it  does  from  the  true  Salmon. 

I  have,  however,  never  been  able  to  gain  any  authentic  information 
of  any  true  Brook  Trout  having  ever  been  taken  in  Canada,  or  in  the 
United  States,  above  the  weight  of  ten  pounds ;  and  that  size  is  of  so 
rare  occurrence,  that  when  one  is  taken,  it  is  regarded  as  a  monster, 
and  is  heralded  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  through  the 
public  press.  I  have  myself  seen  a  Trout,  taken  in  the  winter  through 
the  ice,  in  Orange  county.  New  York,  which  lacked  but  a  few  ounces 
of  six  pounds.  I  know  several  instances,  not  exceeding  half-a-dozen, 
of  fish  varying  from  four  to  five  pounds,  taken,  some  on  Long  Island, 
some  in  the  interior,  within  twelve  or  thirteen  years,  but  I  have  never 
beard  it  asserted  that  a  fish  of  larger  size  has  been  taken  in  America. 

There  is,  I  am  arare,  a  tale  that  many  years  since,  a  Trout  of  eleven 
pounds  was  taken  at  Fireplace ;  and  a  rough  sketch  of  the  fish  is  still 
to  be  seen  on  the  wall  of  the  tavern  bar-room.  I  know,  however,  that 
this  fish  was  considered  at  the  time,  by  all  the  true  sportsmen  who  saw 
it,  to  be  a  Salmon,  and  the  sketch  is  said  to  bear  out  that  opinion, 
though  I  do  not  mysDlf  understand  how  a  mere  outline,  not  filled  up, 
can  convey  any  very  distinct  idea  of  the  species  intended.  " 

SuflBce  it,  that  it  is  not  only  not  on  record  that  any  Trout  of  seven 
pounds  or  upward  has  been  captured  on  this  continent,  but  that  old 
fishermen  will  assort  positively,  that  they  never  grow  to  be  above  five 
pounds  in  weight ;  and  very  coolly  and  civilly  imply  to  you  that  you  \ 
are  speaking  falsely,  when  you  tell  them  that  Trout  from  ten  to  twenty  ' 
pounds  are  no  great  rarities  in  En^vland,  and  that  they  are  taken  even 
of  a  much  greater  weight.  The  fact,  on  this  point,  is,  that  Trout  of 
ten  or  even  fifteen  pounds — I  mean  the  common  8p:;ckled  Trout, 
Salmo  Farioy  analogous  to  our  Brook  Tvout — are  nioi'o  common  in 


8ALM0NIDJS. 


96 


Boiuo  of  the  large  rivers  of  Englaud,  and  largo  lakes  of  Irclr.nd,  than 
fish  of  four  pounds  are  here.  There  probably  rarely  parses  a  season 
in  which  ten  or  a  dozen  of  these  largo  fish,  exceeding  ten  pounds' 
weight,  are  not  taken  in  the  Thames.  1  do  not  think  that  here,  on  an 
average,  one  four-pound  fish  is  killed  annually ;  and  their  rarity  is 
abundantly  proved  by  the  fact  that  their  capture  is  always  recorded. 

The  Bashers  Kill,  in  Sullivan  county,  to  which  the  Silver  Trout  is 
assigned,  is  a  pretty  Trout  stream,  but  in  no  wise  superior  to  a  thou- 
sand others  throughout  the  country ;  and,  like  all  mountainous  streams, 
is  far  more  celebrated  for  the  number,  than  for  the  size  of  its  fish. 

In  both  resp3cts,  it  is  surpassed  by  many  of  the  Pennsylvanian 
streams  of  the  same  neighborhood,  falling  into  the  Delaware  from  the 
westward ;  and  in  the  size  and  excellence  of  its  Trout,  it  cannot  sus- 
tain a  moment's  comparison  with  the  fish  of  the  Long  Island  streams 
on  the  south  side.  Its  fish,  it  is  needless  to  add,  are  in  no  wise  dis- 
tinct. 

The  Trout  of  Massachusetts  are  identical  with  the  common  Trout 
of  New  York  ;  the  figure  at  the  head  of  this  article  is  from  a  specimen 
taken  in  Massachusetts.  I  have  caught  Brook  Trout  myself  froiu 
Maine  to  Pennsylvania,  and  can  safely  rroiiounce  on  their  identity. 
The  Black  Trout  is  merely  an  accidental  variety ;  the  colors,  taste, 
and  habits  of  which  arc  affected  by  the  peaty  waters,  and  stagnant  flow 
of  the  lazy  streams  in  which  it  is  found,  and  frc-^  which  it  obtains  a 
corresponding  dinginoss  of  hue,  muddincss  of  flavor,  and  laziness  of 
character. 

With  regard  to  the  Sea  Trout^  as  it  is  here  called,  I  shall  quote  a 
few  paragraphs  from  the  pages  of  "  Smith's  Fishes  of  Massachu- 
setts, "  although  1  cannot  say  that  I  esteem  it  a  work  on  which 
much  reliance  can  bo  placed,  as  the  author  appears,  from  some  of  his 
statements,  to  be  a  writer  of  more  rashness  than  discrimination,  and 
more  ready  than  qualified  to  give  his  opinion  decidedly,  and  without 
appeal. 

These  qualities  are  rendircd  sufliciontly  apparent  by  his  indulging  in 
a  violent  tirade  against  Dr.  Mitchil,  of  New  York,  whom  he  accuses 
of  vanity  and  presumption,  in  afiixing  his  own  name  to  the  Striped 
Bass,  which  he.  Smith,  asserts  to  be  "  a  common  table  Jish,  known  from 
Ihne  immemorial  all  over  E'^irope.^^  ' 


•6 


AMERICAN  riSHCS. 


It  is,  I  presume,  at  this  day  entirely  unnecessary  to  state,  that  Dr. 
Mitchil  was  perfectly  right  as  to  the  distinct  character  of  the  American 
fish,  and  its  being  utterly  unknown,  and  non-existent  in  Europe  ;  and 
Smith  is  wrong  in  every  possible  particular ;  the  fish  to  which  ho 
refers  it,  the  Sea  Bass  of  Europe,  Lahrax  Lupus  of  Cuvier,  Perca 
Labrax  of  Linnieus,  being  altogether  a  different  fish,  though  of  the 
same  family,  perfectly  distinct  both  in  habits  and  appearance. 

Of  the  Sea  Trout,  Smith  says : — 

"  They  are  found,  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  name,  in  the  salt  and 
brackish  waters  of  tide  rivers  nnd  inland  bays,  in  various  parts  of  this 
and  the  adjoining  States.  When  taken  from  the  salt-water  early  in 
spring,  they  are  in  high  perfection,  and  nothing  can  exceed  their  pis- 
catory symmetry.  The  general  appearance  of  the  skin  is  of  silvery 
brightness,  the  back  being  of  a  greenish  and  mackerel  complexion ; 
the  spots  of  a  vermillion  color,  mixed  with  others  of  faint  yellow,  and 
sometimes  slightly  tinged  with  purple,  extend  the  whole  length  on 
either  side  of  the  lateral  line  ;  the  fins  are  light  in  color  and  firm  in 
texture,  and,  together  with  the  tail,  are  rather  shorter  and  more 
rounded  than  the  common  Trout.  They  have  a  firm  compactness  of 
form  from  head  to  tail,  which  accounts  for  the  superior  sprightlincss  of 
their  movement ;  the  head  and  mouth  are  very  small,  and  the  latter 
never  black  inside,  like  the  common  or  fresh-water  Trout;  the  flesh 
is  even  redder,  or  rather,  we  would  say,  more  pink-colored  than  tho 
Salmon,  to  which,  by  many,  they  are  preferred  as  a  delicacy,  having, 
like  the  Salmon,  much  of  what  is  called  curd,  or  fat  between  the  flakes. 

"  A  fish  of  a  pound  weight  measures  about  eleven  inches  in  length. 
Their  average  size  is  considerably  larger  than  the  fresh-water,  or  Brook 
Trout — having  been  taken  in  the  waters  to  which  we  refer — Waquoit 
bay,  upon  Cape  Cod,  and  Fireplace,  Long  Island — of  nearly  five 
pounds'  weight ;  such  instances,  however,  are  rare,  three  pounds  being 
considered  a  very  large  fish.  We  do  not  remember  ever  seeing  a  poor 
fish  of  this  kind  taken.  They  are  invariably  in  good  condition,  let  the 
size  be  what  it  may,"  &c.,  &c. 

I  have  quoted  this  passage,  merely  for  the  purpose  of  warning  my 
readers,  in  a  few  words,  that  there  is  no  such  thing ;  and  that  the 
whole  of  tho  above  refers  merely  to  the  Brook  Trout. 

All  the  varieties  and  species  of  Salmoniday  with  the  exception  of 


w 


•ALMONIDJE. 


97 


Boniti  of  tliQ  largo  laciutrino  ip^cios,  aro  migratory  whenever  it  is  in 
their  power  to  bo  so ;  and  run  down  to  the  sea,  annually,  for  the 
purpose  of  rcoruiting  thuinsolvos  after  spawning,  whonoo  they  return, 
like  the  Salmon  and  Salmon  Trout,  in  oxocllcnt  condition,  perfect 
symmetry,  and  in  the  highest  stage  of  external  beauty. 

The  non-migratory  habit  of  the  largo  lacustrine  species  docs  not 
depend,  in  any  degree,  on  their  position  or  situation  above  impassable 
cataracts,  or  in  waters  without  outlets,  although  they  arc  frequently 
found  under  such  circumstances,  for  they  do  not  run  down  to  the  sen, 
oven  when  they  have  it  in  their  power  to  do  so ;  as,  for  instance,  in 
Lake  Ontario,  whore  they  arc  found  abundantly ;  nor,  on  the  oth^r 
hand,  do  they  proceed  far  up  the  rivers,  for  the  purpose  of  spawning, 
being  content  to  deposit  thoir  ova  on  the  gravel  beds  of  shoal  water, 
at  the  margins  of  their  lakes,  or  at  the  mouths  of  the  brooks  which 
diacharge  into  them. 

Of  the  migratory  species,  the  Brook  Trout  is  one ;  and  when  it  is 
in  his  power,  ho  invariably  descends  to  the  sea,  and  returns  to  perpetu- 
ate his  species  by  depositing  his  spawn  in  the  clearest,  coolest,  and 
most  limpid  waters  which  he  can  find.  There  can  be,  I  think,  little 
doubt  that,  like  tho  Salmon,  ho  returns  to  the  streams  in  which  he  has 
been  bred. 

There  are,  doubtless,  hundreds  of  mountain  brooks  throughout  the 
country,  divided  by  impracticable  falls,  natural  or  artificial,  from  the 
sea ;  and  although  thcso  teem  with  hordes  of  Brook  Trout,  they  never 
attain,  in  them,  to  any  nho ;  tho  mature  adults  being  scarcely  larger 
than  the  young  fry,  while  they  are  still  marked  with  the  transverse 
bandings  of  the  Parr.  Tho  flesh  of  this  little  fish  never  attains  the 
rich  cherry-colored  'int  of  the  Trout,  in  full  season,  but  is  of  a  pale 
yellowish  flesh-color,  and  has  neither  the  richness  nor  the  flavor  of  the 
sea-run  variety.  That  these  swarms  do  not  visit  the  sea,  is  not  be- 
cause they  lack  tho  will,  but  because  they  have  not  the  power ;  and 
it  is  possible  that  tho  habit  of  running  seaward  being  precluded  gene- 
ration after  generation,  tho  instinctive  desire  for  it  passes  away  in  the 
process  of  time.  But  that  tho  degeneracy,  both  in  size  and  flavor, 
is  caused  by  tho  inability  to  recruit  their  powers  in  the  salt-water,  is 
rendered  evident  by  tho  facts  I  have  already  quoted  concerning  the 
falling  off  of  Salmon  and  Salmon  Trout,  both  in  size  and  appearance. 


V\ 


98 


AMERICAN  riSilCS. 


when  intentionally  confined  in  frcHh-water  lakes;  cs  well  an  by  the 
enormous  rapidity  of  growth  niunifostcd  in  the  Salmon  HnioltH,  which, 
having  been  a  year  and  a  half  in  fresh  water,  attaining  a  length  of 
seven  or  Aight  inches,  and  a  weight  of  about  so  many  ounces,  after  a 
visit  of  a  few  months  to  tho  sea,  return  not  only  reinvigotuted  in  con- 
dition, but  iucreasod  in  bulk  to  seven  or  eight  pounds  weight. 

This  accounts  v  ;'  readily  for  tho  superior  size  of  what  Mr.  Smith 
designates  as  a  distinct  species  of  Sea  Trout,  which  is,  in  reality,  only 
the  Brook  Trout  on  his  return  from  tho  sea.  The  circumstances  of 
its  condition  speak  for  themselves. 

Who  ever  saw  a  Salmon  fresh-run  from  tho  sea,  of  whatever  size  or 
ago,  othcrwis3  than  in  excellent  condition  and  of  rare  beauty .'  Who 
over  took  a  spent  fish,  of  tho  sumo  species,  that  was  not  ugly,  lean, 
discolored  and  uneatable  .' 

The  silvery  whiteness  and  tho  bluish  back  of  the  Sea  Trout,  as 
described  above,  is  peculiar  to  all  fresh-run  fish  of  this  family ;  and  in 
Scotland  a  skilful  Salmon-fisher  will  tell  you,  at  a  glance,  how  many 
tides  a  fish  has  been  in  the  river,  merely  from  seeing  him  leap  at  a  fly 
or  a  minnow. 

All  the  other  marks,  cited  by  Smith  as  characteristics,  arc  merely 
signs  of  condition,  ns  the  brilliancy  of  the  coloring,  the  breadth  and 
thickness  of  the  fish,  and  the  comparative  smallness  of  tho  head,  which 
is  produced  by  no  alteration  whatever  of  that  portion  of  the  body,  but 
by  the  increase  and  development  of  the  body  itself,  which  at  this  sea- 
son and  stage  of  the  animal,  is  equal  in  its  circumference  to  one-half 
its  length. 

It  is  well  known  and  undisputed  in  Long  Island,  that  the  Pond-fish 
and  Creek-fish,  as  they  are  termed,  pass  to  and  fro  between  the  fresh 
and  the  salt-water  ;  and  although  tho  Creek-fish  arc  occasionally  there 
called  Sea  Trout,  it  is  by  no  means  as  implying  that  they  are  of  a 
diflFerent  species,  but  merely  indicating  the  water  in  which  thoy  are 
taken. 

The  fish  to  "which  I  referred  above  in  my  introductory  remarks  on 
the  SalmonidcB,  as  being  perhaps  a  distinct  kind,  analogous  to  the 
Salnw  Trutta  of  Linnaeus,  is  by  no  means  this  Trout,  but  a  very  differ- 
ent animal,  found  only  in  the  eastern  and  north-eastern  rivers,  which 
empty  their  waters  into  the  Bay  of  Fundy  or  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 


BAI.MONIDAC. 


09 


renoo.  Thin  Trout  U  ftmnd  only  in  thcs3  rivors,  and  m  fur  as  1  can 
learn,  inHt  ii<l  of  ruiinitij^  up  to  the  hoad  wutjrs  of  thn  ntreunm  in 
order  tn  npawn,  •  "tncH  up  (mly  to  tho  foot  of  tho  fimt  rapidH  with  tho 
flood,  uud  returns  with  th  '  tide  of  ebb.  Even  about  this  Trout  I  have 
my  doubts,  though  before  finishing  this  work,  I  hopo  to  have  moro 
dofinito  information  on  tho  Bubjoct. 

With  regard  to  tho  fish  inontionsd  above,  I  have  no  doubts  whatever. 
It  varies  in  nothing  from  tho  common  Trout  but  in  tlioso  purticularB, 
which  prove  that  it  lias  run  to  tho  salt-water. 

Tho  last-named  variety,  Salmo  IIucAo^  which  is  also  cited,  on  tho 
authority  of  Smith,  as  a  fish  of  New  England,  stands  in  tho  same 
category  with  the  last-mentioned. 

There  is  no  such  fish  on  tho  continent  of  America ;  and,  indeed, 
even  on  the  European  continent,  where  alono  it  is  found,  its  limits  are 
narrower,  and  its  geographical  rango  smaller,  than  that  of  any  known 
fish.  It  is,  in  fact,  found  only  in  tributaries  of  tho  Danube,  moro 
especially  in  the  Traun,  the  Sauve,  tho  Droave,  and  the  Laybach 
rivers.  Some  writers  have  supposed  him  to  be  purely  a  fresh-water 
fish,  but  it  is  believed  by  Davy,  that,  in  his  largest  state,  he  is  an  in- 
habitant of  the  Black  Sea.  Ho  is  said  to  spawn  in  tho  Muir  between 
March  and  May,  and  in  the  Danube  in  June. 

He  b  tho  fiercest  and  most  predatory  of  all  the  SalmonidtB^  and  it 
b  useless  to  attempt  tho  capture  of  largo  ones  with  the  fly.  Spinning 
tackle,  tho  bleak,  the  minnow,  and  small  trout,  or  parr,  are  the  only 
modes,  and  tho  only  bait  which  he  cares  to  take. 

In  shape,  ho  resomblos  an  ill-fed  Trout,  being  the  longest  and 
slenderest  of  all  the  Salmonida^  tho  ratio  of  his  length  to  his  girth 
being  as  18  to  8,  or  in  well-fed  fish,  20  to  9.  Ho  has  a  silvery  belly, 
and  dark  $pott  only  on  the  back  and  sides,  which,  in  itself,  shows  suffi- 
ciently that  ho  is  not  tho  fish  described  by  Smith  under  this  name. 

Smith's  fish  b  described  "  as  resembling  much  the  Sea  Trout ;  but 
being  found,  on  u  careful  examination,  to  be  more  slender,  and  to 
have  a  greater  number  of  red  spots.  The  back  is  dusky  ;  tho  ventral 
fin  has  a  yellowish  tinge  ;  all  the  others  are  of  a  palish  purple  ;  the 
tail  is  forked,  and  the  fish  measures  sometimes  four  feet  through — or- 
dinarily they  aro  only  about  two,  and  are  caught  by  the  hook.  This 
Trout  oertainly  cxbts  in  the  large  rivers  and  ponds  in  the  interior,  but 


100 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


deteriorate  in  size.  They  are  brought  from  New  Hampshire  in  the 
winter,  froz3n,  for  the  markets,  and  from  the  northern  parts  of  Maine, 
where  sp3cimens  have  been  taken  as  large  as  any  produced  in  the 
great  rivers  of  Europe." 

This  passage  I  quote  from  the  "  American  Angler's  Guide,"  and  1 
do  so,  to  declare  that  this  fish  is,  in  the  first  instance,  not  the  Hucho  ; 
and,  secondly,  to  point  out  that  no  such  fish  has  ever  been  authcnti* 
cally  produced  at  all.  A  Hucho  of  the  Laybach,  of  two  feet  in 
length,  by  eleven  inches  girth,  and  three  inches  thickness,  was  found 
to  weigh  four  pounds  two  and  a  half  ounces.  Now,  fishes  increase  in 
weight  in  the  ratio  of  their  breadth  and  depth,  not  of  their  length,  a 
Trout  of  thirty-one  inches  weighing  seventeen  pounds.  Whether  any 
Trout  or  Salmon  has  ever  been  taken  of  full  four  foot  in  length  1 
greatly  doubt.  If  so,  its  weight  must  be  enormous  ;  the  largest  Salmon 
ever  known,  the  eighty-three  pounder,  which  came  into  the  possession 
of  Mr.  Groves,  the  London  fishmonger,  in  1821,  is  described  as  having 
been  a  short  fish  for  the  weight,  and  I  am  convinced  would  not  have 
measured  four  feet. 

Now  it  remains  to  inquire  what  is  this  fish  which  Mr.  Smith  desig- 
nates as  the  Hucho  ;  and  is  there  any  such  fish  in  existence  elsewhere 
than  in  that  gentleman's  imagination  ? 

Now  I  fear  the  answers  to  these  questions  must  be  in  the  negative, 
since,  most  assuredly,  there  is  no  scarlet-spotted  Trout  on  record  at 
all  approaching  to  the  size  described  by  Mr.  Smith,  which  we  must 
reckon  at  the  rate  of  from  seventy  to  one  hundred  pounds  weight. 

The  Salmo  AmethystuSy  Mackinaw  Salmon,  which  does  grow  to 
that  prodigious  size,  and  which  answers  to  many  of  the  particulars 
specified,  is  never  scarlet-spotted ^  nor  does  the  Salmo  Confinis  of  Dr. 
Dekay  ever  show  a  red  spot. 

One  or  both  these  fish  do  exist  in  the  lakes  of  Maine  and  New 
Hampshire,  from  Temiscouata  to  Winnepisiogee,  and  it  may  be  that 
this  is  a  mis-description  of  one  of  these.  If  it  be  not,  it  is  either  a 
new  and  nondescript  fish,  of  the  kind  mentioned  as  killed  by  the  Pre- 
sident of  the  Piseco  Club,  "  with  red  flesh,  weighing  twenty-four 
pounds,"  or  it  is  a  very  large  specimen  of  the  Brook  Trout,  and, 
moreover,  wonderfully  exaggerated  in  dimensions. 

It  is  a  remarkable  peculiarity  of  the  American  Trout,  that  it  b 


/■ 


SALMONIU^. 


101 


seldom  found— except  when,  as  a  very  rare  exception,  one  is  taken  in 
the  drawing  the  sean — in  any  large  rivers.  I  have  never  heard  a  soli- 
tary instance  of  a  fieli  being  taken  either  with  the  bait  or  the  fly,  or 
even  with  the  spinning  tackle,  in  any  large  stream,  unless  quite  at  its 
head  waters,  where  it  is  not  large.  All  the  Trout  which  are  taken, 
are  taken  in  what  are  here  called  creeks,  and  what  would  in  Europ3 
be  described  as  large  brooks,  or  small  rivers  of  the  sixth  or  seventh 
class.  In  these  the  run  of  fish  greatly  exceeds  the  dimensions  of  the 
little  inhabitants  of  the  mountain  brooks.  This,  in  addition  to  other 
facts,  at  the  knowledge  of  which  we  have  arrived  through  the  experi- 
ments recorded  heretofore  as  made  in  England  with  regard  to  the 
growth  of  fishes,  lead  us  irresistibly  to  the  conclusion  that  the  use  of 
large  expanses  of  suitable  water  is  necessary  to  the  Trout,  in  order  to 
their  arriving  at  any  great  magnitude. 

It  is,  therefore,  quite  within  the  range  of  possibility,  that  in  the 
large  pure  inland  lakes,  supplied  by  the  limpid  springs  of  the  moun- 
tains, the  Brook  Trout  of  America  may  attain  a  growth  analogous  to 
that  of  the  wall-fed  and  full-grown  Trout  of  the  Thames,  the  Stour, 
and  the  Irish  lakes  ;  a  growth  which  the  smallness  of  the  streams 
which  they  do  frequent,  and  their  inexplicable  avoidance  of  the  large 
and  navigable  rivers,  prevent  them  from  acquiring  elsewhere. 

I  cannot  say  that  I  shall  be  at  all  surprised  should  it  turn  out,  on 
investigation,  that  the  Brook  Trout,  Salmo  Fontinalis,  is  indeed  occa- 
sionally taken  up  to  tlie  weight  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  pounds,  espe- 
cially in  the  waters  of  Hamilton  County,  and  is  now  confounded,  on 
account  of  its  size,  with  the  great  Lake  Trout — not  equal  to  it, 
whether  as  a  fish  of  game  or  a  table  fish — of  the  same  waters. 

The  Brook  Trout  proper  of  America  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
creatures  in  form,  color,  and  motion,  that  can  be  imagined. 

He  is  slenderly  and  gracefully  formed,  though  rather  deeper  in 
proportion  to  his  length  than  the  Salmon,  and  far  more  so  than  the 
Lake  Trout. 

In  a  well-grown  and  well-fed  fish,  the  length  of  the  head  to  the 
whole  body  is  about  as  one  to  five  ;  and  the  length  of  the  whole  body 
to  the  breadth,  at  the  origin  of  the  first  dorsal  fin,  as  four  and  a  half 
to  one.  A  line  drawn  from  the  front  teeth  to  the  posterior  curve  of 
the  gill-cover,  which  is  nearly  semicircular,  is  nearly  parallel  to  the 


102 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


lateral  line,  and  will  divids  the  body  into  two  nearly  equal  parts,  the 
convexity  of  the  back  and  belly  being  also  nearly  equal.  The  centre 
of  the  dorsal  fin  is  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  centre  of  the  length  of 
the  body  ;  and  the  second  dorsal  fin  is  equidistant  from  the  posterior 
extremity  of  the  dorsal,  and  that  of  the  caudal  fin.  The  origin  of 
the  ventral  fin  is  vertically  under  the  origin  of  the  dorsal ;  and  the 
origin  of  the  anal  equidistant  from  the  termination  of  the  ventral  and 
the  origin  of  the  caudal  fin.  The  p3ctoral  fin  is  about  two-thirds  the 
length  of  the  head. 

The  pectoral  fin  has  eleven  rays,  th3  first  dorsal  eleven,  the  ven- 
tral eight,  the  anal  fifteen,  the  caudal  uiinteen.  The  second  dorsal 
ray  less  and  adipose.  \ 

The  head  is  smooth  ;  the  body  covered  with  small  and  delicate 
scales.  Teeth  on  the  vomer,  the  palatino  bones,  and  all  the  maxillary 
bones.  The  head  and  upper  part  of  the  back  are  beautifully  mottled, 
like  tortoise-shell,  with  brownish  gre jn  and  yellow  spots ;  the  gill- 
covers  silvery,  with  yellowish  and  pink  glazings  ;  the  sides,  about  the 
lateral  lino,  lustrous  metallic  bluish  gray,  with  large  yellow  spots  more 
brilliant  than  on  the  back.  A  doubb  row  of  vivid  vermillion  specks, 
irregular  in  number,  along  the  lateral  lini,  above  and  below  it.  The 
sid3S  and  upper  portion  of  the  belly  glaz id  with  bright  carmine  ;  the 
belly  silvery  white  ;  the  pectoral  fins  reddish  yellow,  with  a  dusky 
anterior  margin  ;  the  ventral  fins  the  same,  with  the  margin  blacker 
and  more  definite  ;  the  anal  fin  red,  with  a  broad  white  anterior  mar- 
gin, and  a  black  lunated  streak  between  the  white  and  red  ;  the  caudal 
fin  purplish  brown  ;  the  first  dorsal  golden  yellow,  barred  and  spotted 
irregularly  with  jet-black  ;  the  second  dorsal  similar  to  the  back. 

Such,  briefly,  are  the  characteristics  and  general  appearance  of  this 
beautiful  and  interesting  fish,  which  in  every  part  of  the  world  where 
angling  is  r9sorted  to  as  a  sport,  and  not  merely  as  a  mode  of  obtain- 
ing subsistence,  is  the  great  object  of  the  scientific  fisherman's  pursuit. 

There  is  no  sportsman,  who  is  actuated  by  the  true  animus  of  the 
pursuit,  who  would  not  prefer  basketing  a  few  brace  of  good  Trout,  to 
taking  a  cart-load,  of  the  coarser  and  less  game  denizens  of  the 
waters  ;  nor,  whether  we  consider  his  wariness,  his  timidity,  his  ex- 
treme cunning,  the  impossibility  of  taking  him  in  fine  and  much-fished 
waters,  except  with  the  slenderest  and  most  delicate  tackle  ;  his  bold- 


.  i 


^ 


SALMONIDiE. 


103 


nt'ss  and  vigor  after  being  hooked,  or  his  excellence  on  the  table,  shall 
we  wonder  at  the  judgment,  much  less  dispute  it,  which,  next  to  the 
Salmon  only,  rates  him  the  first  of  fresh-water  fishes.  The  pursuit  of 
him  leads  us  into  the  loveliest  scenery  of  the  land;  the  season  at 
which  we  fish  for  him  is  the  most  delicious,  those  sweetest  months  of 
spring — when  they  are  not,  as  at  present,  the  coldest  and  most  odious 
of  the  year — the  very  name  and  mention  of  which  is  redolent  of  the 
breath  of  flowers,  the  violet,  the  cowslip,  and  the  celandine,  which 
plunge  us  into  a  paradise  founded  upon  the  rural  imaginings  of  the 
most  exquisite  of  England's  rural  bards,  until  we  are  recalled  from 
our  elysium  by  a  piercing  gale  from  the  north-east,  and  perhaps  a 
p);lting  hail-storm,  bidding  us  crush  our  wandering  fancies,  and  teach- 
ing us  that  spring-time  is  one  of  those  pleasant  things  which  occurs 
twice  perhaps  in  a  lifetime  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

The  habits  of  the  Trout  have  been  already  discussed  so  fully  in  the 
earlier  part  of  this  article,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  his  food,  that  I 
shall  defer  further  mention  of  these  topics,  until  I  come,  in  the  second 
part  of  this  volume,  to  the  taking  of  him  with  the  natural  or  artificial 
bait,  which  is  most  intimately  connected  with  the  consideration  of  his 
prey  and  his  haunts,  so  that  in  that  place  these  will  be  most  suitably 
discussed. 

Note  to  Revised  Edition. — For  some  further  particulars  as  to  the  size  of  the 
Brook  Trout,  see  Supplement.    Art.  Brook  Trout,  Salino  FoiiUnalis. 


104 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERTQIL 


SALMONID^ 


TARIBTT.  TBVITK   DB  ORBVB 


THE  GREATEST  LAKE  TROUT. 


MACKINAW  SALMON NAMAYCU8H SALMON  TROUT. 


Salmo  Amethystua;  Mitchil,  DeKay. — Salmo  Namaycush;  Pennant,  Richardson. 

This  noble  and  gigantic  species,  which  equals,  or  even  exceeds,  in 
siz3,  the  true  Salmon,  Salmo  Salar^  and  is  by  far  the  largest  of  all  the 
lacustrine  or  non-migratory  Salmonida^  is  found  in  all  the  great  lakes 
to  the  northward  and  westward  of  Lake  Erie,  to  the  Fur  countries  and 
the  Arctic  region.  It  is  not  found  in  any  tidal  rivers,  and  never  visits 
the  sea.  The  Falls  of  Niagara  present  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  its 
descent  into  Lake  Ontario;  but  whether  it  exists  in  any  of  the  smaller 
lakes  of  New  York,  or  the  eastern  waters  of  New  England,  does  not 
as  yet  appear  to  be  fully  ascertained.  It  has  been  taken  by  the  com- 
panions of  Dr.  Richardson  and  Sir  John  Franklin,  in  Winter  lake, 
lat.  64-2°  N. ;  but  I  cannot  learn  that  it  has  been  discovered  in  any  of 
the  waters  which  discharge  themselves  southward  by  the  Mississippi 
or  the  Missouri.  I  doubt  not  at  all  that  it  exists  in  the  waters  of  the 
Great  Basin  and  the  Columbia,  and  that  it  is  one  of  the  fish  mentioned 
by  Col.  Fremont,  as  taken  in  them,  during  his  explorations.     The  name 


SALMONIDJE. 


105 


of  Mackinaw  Salmon,  by  which  it  is  commonly  known,  is  therefore  a 
misnomer,  since  it  is  no  more  peculiar  to  the  straits  of  Michilimackinao 
than  to  any  other  locality  between  the  Falls  of  Niagara  and  the  Arctic 
ocean.  The  term  Namaycush,  which  Pennant  adopted,  and  Dr.  Rich- 
ardson has  retained,  both  as  its  English  name  and  its  scientific  distinc- 
tion, is  no  more  than  its  denomination  by  the  Cree  Indians,  who  term  it 
Nammecoos,  and  I  confess  I  think  it  in  both  respects  preferable  to  any 
other ;  for  Dr.  Mitchil's  scientific  name  AmethystuSj  which  he  gave  it 
in  consequence  of  a  faint  purplish  tinge  perceptible  on  the  teeth,  gums, 
and  roof  of  the  mouth,  is  founded  on  a  peculiarity  so  slight — I  speak 
on  the  authority  of  Prof.  Agassiz — as  in  many  specimens  to  be  scarcely 
distinguishable ;  while  it  has  no  name  in  the  English  language  defining 
it  from  the  Siskawitz,  inhabiting  the  same  waters,  or  from  the  common 
Lake  Trout,  Salmo  Confinis^  of  the  New  York  and  New  England 
lakes. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  at  least  one-half  of  our  inland  or  fresh- 
water fishes  have  no  correct  English  names,  no  names  at  all  in  fact, 
but  such  arbitrary  and  erroneous  terms  aa  were  applied  to  them  igno- 
rantly,  by  the  first  English  settlers  in  the  districts  in  which  they  are 
found,  and  have  been  adhered  to  since  for  lack  not  of  better ^  but  of 
any  real  names.  Thus  the  peculiar  fish  of  Lake  Otsego,  though  fully 
ascertained  to  be,  and  scientifically  distinguished  as,  one  of  the  family 
Salmonidaj  and  defined  as  Coregonus  Otsego,  has,  to  this  day,  no  other 
appellation  in  the  vernacular  than  the  absurd  misnomer  of  Otsego 
Bass,  to  which  species  it  has  no  relation  whatsoever.  The  same  is  the 
case  with  the  fish  called  "  Trout,^^  by  the  inhabitants  of  Carolina  and 
the  neighboring  States,  which  is  mentioned  as  the  "  White  Salmon," 
by  Smith,  in  his  history  of  Virginia  ;  and  which  is  said  to  abound  in 
the  rivers  of  Pennsylvania.  This  is,  I  doubt  not,  the  fish  alluded  to  by 
a  recent  writer  in  the  "  Spirit  of  the  Times,"  as  the  Susquehanna 
Salmon,  unless  perchance  another  nameless  fish,  the  Perca  Lucioperca, 
is  intended.  The  southern  Trout  is  of  the  Pearch  family — nothing 
more  remote  from  Trout — though  in  form  it  has  some  resemblance  to 
the  Salmonidee.  It  is  the  Gristes  Salmcides  of  Cuvier,  the  Labre 
Salmoide  of  LacdpSde,  both  terms  indicating  its  family  as  of  the 
Pearch  or  Bass,  and  its  similarity  to  the  Salmons ;  but  it  has  no 
English  name  at  all,  unless  we  adopt  the  vulgarism  of  calling  it  a 
8 


106 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


Trout,  which  is  no  less  absurd  than  it  would  be  to  call  a  Pickerel, 
Salmon. 

These  prevalent  misnomers,  and  this  total  absence  of  real  and  ra- 
tional names,  are  of  great  disadvantage,  creating  excessive  confusion, 
and  puzzling  all,  except  the  scientific  naturalist.  It  is  much  to  be 
regretted  that  the  Indian  terms  have  not  always  been  sustained ;  for 
when  interpreted,  they  are  almost  invariably  found  to  be  truly  dis- 
tinctive ;  and  it  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  on  the  discovery  of  new 
genera,  or  varieties,  this  system  of  nomenclature  may  be  adopted,  as  it 
has  been  by  Prof.  Agassiz  with  regard  to  the  Siskawitz,  a  new  lacus- 
trine Trout,  discovered  by  him  during  the  past  summer  in  the  great 
waters  of  Huron  and  Superior. 

With  regard  to  those  misnamed  long  ago,  the  misnomers  of  which 
have  become  familiar,  and  as  it  were  stereotyped  by  the  lapse  of  time, 
it  is  difficult  to  say  what  is  to  be  done,  or  how  the  evil  is  to  be  reme- 
died ;  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  Coregonus  of  Otsego  will  remain 
the  Otsego  Bass  for  ever ;  since  [although  nothing  is  easier  than  to 
explain,  and  even  to  prove,  that  the  fish  h  in  no  respect  a  Bass]  when 
he  who  has  been  accustomed  so  to  call  it,  but  who  is  open  to  convic- 
tion, enquires  if  I  must  not  call  him  Bass,  what  is  hb  name  ?  there  is 
no  answer  to  the  question,  but  that  he  is  a  Coregonus  of  the  Salmon 
family. 

To  return,  however,  to  the  Greatest  Lake  Trout,  Mackinaw  Salmon, 
or  Namaycush — it  is  also  called,  in  common  with  all  the  other  large 
Lake  Trout,  Salmon  Trout ;  but  this  is  too  absurd  even  to  be  admitted 
as  a  provincial  synonyme,  since  the  Salmon  Trout  is  a  Sea  Trout,  and 
is  moreover  found  on  the  eastern  shores  of  this  continent.  This  is  pro- 
bably the  largest  of  the  Salmon  family  in  the  known  world ;  hence,  I 
have  ventured  on  my  own  authority,  to  designate  him  as  the  Greatest 
Lake  Trout,  in  order  to  distinguish  him  not  only  from  the  Siskawitz 
and  the  Salmo  Confinis  of  DeKay,  but  also  from  the  common  Trout, 
Salmo  ForUinalis,  when  taken  of  large  size  in  the  small  inland  lakes. 

The  average  weight  of  this  monstrous  fish  in  L^l^e  Huron  is  stated  by 
the  fishermen  to  be  seventeen  pounds,  but  they  are  constantly  taken  of 
forty  pounds  weight,  and  not  at  all  unfrequently  of  sixty  or  seventy. 

It  is  stated  by  Dr.  Mitchil,  that  at  Michilimackinac,  they  have 
been  known  to  attain  the  enormous  weight  of  one  hundred   and 


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AMIi.Nir  ,i.<«     fl^UK*. 


4  * 


Tv-«-  .  yihkh  w  00  lim »htimjtth  tkjm  >t w-^ui'i  bo  to  call  a  Picl-jrcl, 

lUn't"-  pr*jv»i'f!<  \'''-;,^o (<-.;.,  .v<»'i  fclm  vitul  ab-^s'ijoi'  of  n^al  and  ni- 
»i«i(K«}  na0i««v  «iJ"  >i^'  i'i-^yt.i.  vii«»dvAii»ta/re,  crtatijij^  .-xceswve  conl'iu^ion, 
?j»j  j)*a»ftT»f!   -  *ja»   i««'jL-ntific  immrnli*      It   is  mm-b  to  be 

'■otf*«-tt<'<i  t^*"i  >.  ..;<j,.  U'r«i«  hove  Put  alwaj''  b.-n  su^t.uiiod  ;  for 
■srWa  uiiviffv.cit*  (I  titry  ar«.'  altuoft,  invan"  i))ly  fuiiinii  t<>  Ik-  truly  <!i3- 
(•iat"t.i\<^  ,  Aiii  jf  !^  ^-rtiatly  to  be  (l<'sirod  tlnit  du  tin  liifiroYcry  of'  now 
|jr«!nf?!';».  :;  .(#«•' -'i.^-s,  thin  sy .stem  of  r-omciK-ljitarc  iiiuyb'-  {K]ojif;;d>,  aa  it 
h-Mi  ^sffr'i  Vj  Pi'-jf.  Agasair  with  rogard  to  the  Siika^vitz,  n  UiW  lacn*- 
triire  Twfrt,  <li.«ccivored  by  hira  diuing  th«  past  sunmu'i  in  tlic  great' 
sviitvire  <,\   tlurou  una  Supt^rior. 

VVi<h  Ji'.f^ard  to  those  riur-^iiiUiUHt  lof.pf  nf.'0,  the  nii.snoiners  of  whie|( 
have  bceome  familiar,  and  ,i»  It  wt  re  ster-xitypod  by  tlio  lapse  of  time, 
k  is  di^eull  lo  «uy  what  U  t  >  b.i  doiio,  or  ho.v  llie  evil  is  to  ha  rejuo- 
died  ;  inj.l  it  is  iv  I'k'  f'-arcd.  that  tht'  Cvreironus  of  Otsero  will  rcmrin 
the  :''*i*ego  fijis-  for  tvvijr  ;  wt.ee  'althouiih  nothing  Ih  easirr  tlian  to 
cxpl'».?t;,  and  wen  to  prove,  that  the  fi.-'h  iw  i'.i  no  respect  a  Buhs]  wheii 
hif  wiio  has  been  accuatonied  a<)  to  call  it,  bnt  '.rho  \i'  vjpei*  lo  eor.vic- 
tiv;i>,  eni^uirc<»  if  1  must  not  call  i)iui  13as.«,  what  k.  iiif  name  •'  there  is 
no  answer  to  the  tjuestior»,  1  us  'Uitt  lie  i*  a  Cortigimw,  of  the  baliuon 
tJamily.  ,  ,-  ■;  ■ .,,  ■.  ',  "    •     •   i     ' 

To  retwrij,  however,  lo  th*i  (>reat*;*t  Loke  'I'rnut,  Miinkina\c  Salmon, 
w  INamayciLsh— it  Ih  also  culled,,  in  cojumon  with  all  the  other  huge 
Lake  'ltr.ul,8ahxion  Trout ;  but  this  Ih  <t>^)  absurd  evea  to  be  ridniitted 
'>j«  a  provincial  Kyaonyme,  siuce  the  Salii>>*ri  Trout  h  a  Se.n  I'rout,  and 
j>  moreover  found  on  the  eastern  (•shoroa  of  tliiH  eontittf.nt.  This  is  pro- 
bably the  largest  of  the  Salmon  family  io  the  knows  ivorld  ;  hence,  1 
kftve  ventured  on  my  own  authority,  to  designate  him  a^  tlie  (greatest 
Ijakff  Trout,  iu  ordor  to  di.'iftin^uish  him  not  only  tV-on  the  Siskawitu 
and  tho  ^S<dmo  Confinis  i>f  Di'Kay,  but  also  frmu  Uu;  eommon  Trout, 
Satmo  r'/viimlh,  vrh«»n  taken  of  large  size  in  the  hmall  iidand  lakes. 

The  average  w«i|^toi'  th*!«  nmnittrouH  fi,>b  in  Lake  Huron  is  stated  by 
the  fi^bei-men  to  b«  sevenf'«.n;ti  pounds,  bnt  they  are  eonstantly  t  iken  of 
forty  pouii»5;>  wftij/ht,  and  J:nt  fit  all- imfreouentiy  of  ."ixty  or  syvonty. 

It  is  stat-d  ]iv  Dr  Mitobil,  that  at  Michllimaekinac,  thi-y  liave 
hogn  known  to   attain   the   cnormsnuf  vrtMght  of  one  hundred    and 


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•ALMONIDJB. 


107 


twenty  poundi,  with  which  the  dimensions  of  the  same  fish  w>  tirribed 
by  La  Hontan,  in  his  Mem,  de  VAnuriquCy  would  seem  to  agree — '^  Lci 
pint  groiut  Truitetf"  says  he,  "  det  lacs  ont  cinq  pieds  *  demi  de  lon- 
gueur et  un  pied  de  diatnetre^^ — but  at  the  present  da^ ,  specimens  of 
this  gigantic  magnitude  are  never  seen,  and  seventy  pounds  may  be 
taken  as  the  limit  of  their  ordinary  growth.  Even  this,  however,  is  a 
size  to  which  the  Sea  Salmon  has  scarcely  been  known  to  attain. 

It  is  a  bold,  powerful  and  tyrannical  fish,  with  which  no  other  in- 
habiting the  same  waters  can  compote.  The  Gray  Sucking  Carp,  Ca- 
tasiomut  Iludtoniuty  the  Methy,  a  species  of  fresh-water  Ling,  Lota 
Maculosa^  and  the  Herring-salmon,  Coregonus  Artediy  form  the 
favorite  food  of  this  voracious  fish,  the  stomach  of  which  is  constantly 
found  crammed  with  them  almost  to  repletion ;  but  he  will  bite  raven- 
ously and  fioroely  at  almost  anything,  from  a  small  fish  or  a  piece  of 
pork,  to  a  i*od  rag  or  a  bit  of  bright  of  tin,  made  to  play  rapidly  through 
the  water. 

In  form,  he  considerably  resembles  the  common  Salmon,  though  he 
is  perhaps  rather  deeper  in  proportion  to  his  length.  His  head  is  neat, 
small,  and  well-formed,  with  rather  a  peculiar  depression  above  the 
eye,  and  the  snout  sharply  curved  and  beak-like.  The  head  forms 
nearly  a  fourth-part  of  the  whole  length  of  the  fish  ;  the  skull  is  more 
bony  than  that  of  the  common  Salmon,  the  snout  not  cartilaginous, 
but  formed  of  solid  bone ;  the  jaws  are  very  strong,  the  upper  over- 
lapping by  about  half  an  inch  the  lower,  which  is  strongly  articulated 
to  the  prooperculum  and  to  the  jugal  bone.  The  eye  is  midway 
between  the  snout  and  the  napo,  and  twice  as  far  from  the  hinder  edge 
of  the  gill-cover  as  from  the  tip  of  the  snout. 

Of  the  gill-eovers,  the  preoperculum  is  cuived  and  vertical,  or 
nearly  so  ;  the  suboporculum  is  deeper  than  in  the  other  Trouts,  and 
is  jointed  at  its  inner  angle  to  the  operculum  and  preoperculum  by  a 
slendsr  process  concealed  by  those  bones.  Its  edge  forms  fully  one 
half  of  the  border  of  the  free  gill-cover,  and  is  finely  grooved.  The 
gill-rays  are  twelve  in  number. 

The  dental  system  of  the  Mackinaw  Salmon  is  very  complete,  and 
more  formidable  than  in  any  other  member  of  the  family.  The  inter- 
maxillaries  and  labials,  as  well  as  the  palatine  bones,  lower  jaws  and 
tongue,  are  armed  with  very  sharp  and  strong  conical  curved  teeth  ; 


106 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


those  on  tho  vomor  oonsisting  of  a  circular  cluster  on  tbo  knob  of  that 
bono,  and  of  a  double  row  oxtonding  at  least  half  an  inch  backward. 

Tho  dorsal  fin  is  situated  in  the  middle  of  the  fish,  and  contains 
fourtoen  rays,  tho  eighth  ray  baing  exactly  central  between  the  snout 
and  tho  tip  of  tho  oontral  caudal  fin-ray.  Tho  second  adipose  dor- 
sal fin  is  small  and  obtusely  formed,  Tho  caudal  fin  has  nineteen, 
tho  vontrals  each  nine,  tho  anal  eleven,  and  tho  pectorals  each  four- 
toon  rays.  The  origin  of  the  ventral  fins  is  slightly  posterior  to  tho 
centre  of  tho  fish. 

Such  are  the  principal  structural  distiuctions  of  this  noble  fish,  and 
I  have  entered  into  these  rather  at  length,  since  by  them  only  can  he 
bo  distinguished  from  his  lake  congeners.  I  have  already  observed  tho 
great  differences  existing  in  point  of  color  and  markings  between  fish 
of  the  same  species  found  in  difforent  waters,  throughout  this  family, 
and  endeavored  to  show  the  impropriety  of  founding  specific  distinc- 
tions, or  even  pormanont  varieties,  by  reference  to  these  alono,  without 
reference  to  structure.  In  tho  Salmo  Fontinalisy  common  Brook 
Trout,  this  is  easy  to  be  noticed,  but  in  none  of  the  Salmonida  with 
which  I  am  acquainted  aro  the  difi'erenees  of  color  and  marking  so 
broad  and  distinct  as  in  diiferent  individuals  of  this  species.  I  have 
before  me,  as  I  write,  three  colored  representations  of  this  same  fish, 
two  water-color  sketches,  by  Mr.  Cabot,  of  Boston,  and  one,  a  colored 
lithograph,  in  Dr.  Richardson's  Fauna  Boreali- Americana ;  and  thesi 
three  I  am  certain  would  be  pronounced  by  nine  persons  out  of  ten 
not  accustomed  to  observe  structural  differences,  three  different  fish. 
Indeed,  I  am  informed  by  Prof.  Agassiz,  that  by  the  French  residents 
on  lakes  Huron  and  Superior,  they  are  actually  believed  to  bo  three 
distinct  fish,  and  aro  known  by  three  different  names,  from  tho  locali- 
ties in  which  they  are  found,  viz.  : — Truiie  des  BaitureSy  Trout  of  the 
rocky  shallows — Truite  de  GrevCj  Tvont  of  tho  muddy  shoals — and 
Truite  du  Large,  Trout  of  tho  deep  opon  waters.  Tho  first  of  these 
fish  is  represented  in  the  large  plate  facing  this  paper,  and  the  second 
in  the  cut  at  the  head  of  page  104.  The  third  is  thus  described  in  Dr. 
Richardson's  work  named  abov(  "  Tho  head,  back  and  sides  have 
a  dark  greenish  gray  color,  which  when  examined  closely  is  resolved 
into  small  roundish  yellowish  ^ay  spots  on  a  bluish  gray  ground, 
which  covers  less  space  than  the  spots ;  the  latter  are  most  evident  on 


SALMON  IDA. 


loa 


the  fliduv,  each  of  thorn  inoludiag  throo  or  four  houIoh.  Th )  un- 
oovorod  portion  of  each  scalo  is  rouudUh,  and  its  convex  ountru, 
having  a  grayish  huo  und  silvory  lastro,  is  surroundiid  by  a  dark 
bord'jr  of  ininuto  spots,  which  uro  deficient  or  loss  numerous  on  tho 
yellowish  gray  spots,  and  also  on  tho  bluish  whito  holly.  Tho  dorsal 
and  caudal  fins  havo  thn  greenish  gray  tint  of  tho  back,  and  tho  ven< 
trals  und  anuls  arc  muddy  orange ;  this  color  also  partially  tinzin<j  tho 
poctijials.     Tho  iridos  are  bright  honoy  yollow  with  bluj  clouds." 

I  will  merely  a<ld  to  this,  that  in  tho  colored  lithograph,  which  U 
beautifully  executed,  tho  fish  has  a  bright,  clean,  silvery  upp^urunc^ 
with  a  prevalence  of  bluish  gray  huo,  and  a  silvery  holly,  procis'ly  in 
accordance  with  a  description  given  to  me  by  Prof.  Agassiz,  of  tho 
Truite  dw  Large,  for  in  this  condition  I  have  never  uiysolf  seen  tho 
fish. 

In  tho  drawings  by  Mr.  Cabot,  from  which  tho  wood-cuts  to  this 
paper  arc  taken,  and  tho  correctness  of  which  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
verifying  by  personal  inspection  during  a  recent  visit  to  tho  upper 
lakes,  tho  Truite  des  Bnttitres,  largo  plate  facin'^  page  104,  is  of  a  dark 
bluish  g**  en  on  tho  back,  fading  into  a  greenish  brown  about  th3  late 
ral  lino,  thence  into  a  greenish  yellow  on  tho  sides,  and  into  bluish 
silver  on  tho  holly,  t'ao  wholo  largely  marked  with  distinct  irrcgularly- 
shapod  spots — light  green  on  the  dark  back,  yellowish  on  the  brown 
green  of  tho  sides,  and  silver  on  tho  bluish  belly,  becoming  larger  as 
they  descend  from  tho  back,  and  at  last  molting  into  tho  brightness  of 
tho  abdomen.  Tho  dorsal  and  caudal  fins  of  the  samo  color  as  the 
back,  with  irregular  yellowish  green  spots,  tho  latter  faintly  margined 
with  dull  red ;  tho  pectorals  bluish  gray,  margined  with  tho  samo 
color,  and  the  vcntrals  and  anals  broadly  margined  with  dusky  vor- 
million.  Tho  third  variety,  tho  Truite  de  Greve,  is  generally  of  a 
muddy  greenish  brown,  darker  and  greener  on  tho  back,  browner  on 
tho  sides,  and  yellowish  gray  on  tho  belly.  Tho  spots  in  this  variety 
are  much  smaller  than  in  that  last  described,  and  far  less  definite  both 
in  shapo  and  color,  so  that  tho  fish  might  bo  said  to  be  mottled  or 
clouded,  rather  than  spotted.  Tho  fins  are  all  of  the  samo  dull, 
dingy,  olivaceous  color,  similarly  clouded,  with  tho  faintest  possible 
indication  of  a  ruddy  margin  on  tho  pectorals,  ventrals,  and  anals,  but 
no  tinge  of  that  color  on  the  caudal  fin.     Both  these  varieties  I  have 


M 


no 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


seen  and  compared  within  the  last  month,  recently  taken  on  Lake  Erie, 
and  I  am  informed  that  the  color  and  flavor  of  the  fish  is  affected,  a» 
might  be  expected,  by  the  same  circumstances  which  produce  the 
difference  of  external  coloring,  the  brighter  fish  haying  the  redder 
flesh  and  the  higher  and  more  delicate  flavor. 

In  the  deep  cold  waters  of  Lake  Huron,  all  the  fish  are  infinitely 
superior,  both  in  firmness  and  fiavor,  to  those  of  the  comparatively 
sliallow  and  muddy  waters  of  Lake  Erie,  so  much  so,  that  those  who 
have  been  accustomed  all  their  lives  to  the  White-Fish,  Coregonus 
AlbuSy  of  the  lower  lake,  speak  of  that  of  Lake  Huron  as  entirely  a 
different  fish  as  regards  its  epicurean  qualities. 

"  The  flesh  of  the  Naraaycush,"  says  Dr.  Richardson,  "  is  reddish 
or  orange  colored,  being  paler  when  out  of  season.  When  in  good 
condition,  it  yields  much  oil,  and  is  very  palling  to  the  appetite  if 
simply  boiled,  but  roasting  renders  it  a  very  pleasant  article  of  diet. 
The  Canadian  voyageurs  are  fond  of  eating  it  in  a  frozen  state,  after 
scorching  it  for  a  second  or  two  over  a  quick  fire,  until  the  scales 
can  be  easily  detached,  but  not  continuing  the  application  of  the  heat 
long  enough  to  thaw  the  interior.  The  stomach  when  boiled  is  a 
favorite  morsel  with  the  same  people." 

Although  I  have  seen  this  fish  at  almost  every  season  of  the  year, 
the  flesh  of  none  has  exceeded  what  I  should  call  a  dull,  huffish  flesh- 
color,  not  approaching  to  what,  on  the  most  liberal  construction,  could 
be  termed  red  or  orange  color.  It  is  in  my  opinion  a  coarse,  bad 
fish  on  the  table,  at  once  rank  and  vapid,  if  such  a  combination  can 
be  imagined,  and  it  is  decidedly  the  worst  of  the  large  lacustrine 
Trouts,  few  of  which  in  either  hemisphere  are  either  delicate  or 
high-flavored.  I  doubt  not,  however,  that  when  fresh  out  of  the  water, 
in  the  cold  deep  lakes  of  Huron  and  Superior,  crimped  and  broiled 
or  roasted,  it  is  far  better  than  could  be  supposed  by  one  who  has 
oaten  it  only  after  being  many  hours  out  of  its  native  element. 

In  no  respect,  however,  must  we  regard  the  opinions  of  sportsmen 
more  cum  grano  than  in  their  appreciation  of  the  qualities  of  fish,  flesh 
or  fowl  in  an  epicurean  point  of  view.  They  are  apt  to  be  very  hungry 
when  they  eat,  and  who  does  not  know  the  effect  of  the  Spartan  suuce 
on  the  palatableness  of  the  plainest  viands  .?  and  again,  their  tastes  are 
simplified  by  the  absence  of  stimulants  of  every  kind. 


8ALM0NIDJE. 


Ill 


•'  \ 


The  habits  of  the  Mackinaw  Salmon  are  similar  to  those  of  most  of 
the  non-migratory  Lake  Trout ;  they  affect  and  prefer  the  deep  waters 
at  most  seasons  of  the  year,  and  lie  at  a  great  depth  beneath  the  sur- 
face. In  the  spring  of  the  year,  however,  they  approach  the  shores, 
and  are  found  in  the  shallow  waters,  whither,  it  is  supposed,  they  pur 
sue  the  various  kinds  of  fish  on  which  they  prey,  which  resort  thither 
in  search  of  larvae  of  various  insects.  They  do  not  enter  the  rivers  to 
spawn,  but  approach  the  shores  for  that  purpose  in  autumn,  depositing 
their  ova  on  the  gravelly  shoals,  and  then  retiring  again  into  the  depths. 
In  Lake  Huron  they  begin  to  spawn  about  the  tenth  of  October,  and 
return  to  the  centre  of  the  lake  within  three  months  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  movement.  The  young  fry  of  this  fish  has  been 
examined  by  Professor  Agassiz,  and  found  to  possess  the  same  lateral 
bands  or  markings  which  were  formerly  believed  to  be  peculiar  to  the 
Parr  alone,  but  which  are  in  all  probability,  common  to  every  species 
of  the  family  of  Salmonida.. 

During  its  stay,  at  the  spawning  season,  in  the  shallow  channels 
between  the  innumerable  islands,  the  Namaycush  is  speared  by  torch 
light  in  great  quantities  by  the  Indians — a  cruel  and  wasteful  devasta- 
tion, which,  though  it  cannot  be  wondered  at  in  the  untutored  savage, 
cannot  be  reprehended  too  severely  when  practised,  as  it  is  universally, 
by  the  civilized  white  man,  for  purposes  of  reckless  sport  or  illicit  and 
dishonorable  gain.  In  the  fur  countries  they  are  sometimes  taken  in 
the  autumn  with  nets;  but  the  season  when  it  is  captured  in  the 
greatest  abundance  is  in  the  months  of  March  and  April,  during  which 
it  is  taken  by  thousands  on  cod-hooks,  baited  with  small  fish  set  in 
holes  cut  through  the  ice,  in  eight  or  nine  fathoms  water.  It  will  not 
be  amiss  here  to  state  that  when  the  ice  is  formed  of  snow  partially 
melted  and  recongealed,  so  as  to  be  opaque,  presenting  an  appear- 
ance like  that  of  ground  glass,  neither  this  nor  any  other  of  the  Trout 
family  will  take  the  bait 

During  the  mid-summer  and  mid-winter  months  the  Mackinaw 
Salmon  is  rarely  seen  or  captured,  as  during  those  seasons  |it  lies  in 
the  deepest  waters  in  the  centre  of  the  great  lakes,  so  that  it  can  be 
fished  for  only  with  a  drop-line  and  heavy  plummet  at  an  extraordi- 
nary depth,  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  practised  in  deep-sea  fishing. 


118 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


1  \'    vi'^'"- 


AHOOMINAL 
MAi.ACOPTERV^GIl. 


i"*        ,V'_     ::,■ 


r.    ■>,      ■    .  ;;    4,^,; 


BALMONlDiB 


/',^... 


*  f'. 


THE   SISKAWITZ. 


NORTHERN    LAKE    TROUT. 


Salmo  Siskawitz  •  Agassiz. 


This  fine  fish,  which  is  second  only  in  size  to  that  last  described, 
was  discovered  so  recently  as  last  summer,  during  a  trip  to  the  upper 
lakes  for  scientific  purposes  by  Professor  Agassiz,  to  whose  courtesy 
and  kindness  I  owe  the  power  of  including  it  in  this  work,  as  it  has  not 
up  to  this  time  been  described  or  figured  in  any  book  of  Natural  History. 
A  journal  of  that  tour  is  at  this  moment  passing  through  the  University 
press  at  Harvard,  which  will  comprise  a  full  account  of  this  and  several 
other  previously  nondescript  fishes,  together  with  acctirate  and  beauti- 
ful lithographic  illustrations  by  Sonrel ;  and  to  this  for  fuller  informa- 
tion, and  especially  for  accounts  of  several  species  which  do  not  come 
within  the  limits  of  this  work,  I  refer  my  readers,  certain  that  they 
will  derive  both  pleasure  and  profit  from  the  perusal. 

The  Siskawitz  in  its  coloring  and  general  appearance,  as  regarded 
by  an  uninstructed  eye,  bears  a  very  considerable  resemblance  to  the 
Mackinaw  Salmon,  or  Namaycush,  particularly  to  that  accidental 
variety  of  it  which  I  have  described  above  as  the  2^rmte  de  Greve  ; 
and  is  found  in  the  same  waters  with  it,  most  abundantly  in  Lake 
Superior,  a  few  in  Lake  Huron  near  the  Sault  St.  Marie,  but  none  in 
St.  Clair,  Erie,  or  Ontario.  And,  it  is  believed,  in  the  smaller  inland 
waters  of  New  York  and  the  Eastern  States,  it  is  unknown. 

The  head,  back  and  sides  of  the  Siskawitz,  above  the  lateral 
line,  are  of  dingy  brownish  olive,  with  a  greener  gloss  on  the  upper 
parts,  irregularly  blotched  and  clouded,  rather  than  spotted,  with 
lighter  circular  or  oval  patches  of  the  same  color.  Below  the  lateral 
line  the  color  is  paler  and  more  yellow,  with  clusters  of  the  same  spots 


/■ 


8ALM0NID.E. 


113 


fading  into  a  dnll  (l3ad  wbit3,  which  is  the  prdvailing  huo  of  the  belly, 
with  a  very  slight  silvery  gloss  on  some  of  the  scales. 

The  dorsal  and  caudal  fins  are  of  tlie  same  greenish  brown  with  the 
back,  and  like  it  are  irregularly  patched  with  lighter  spots.  The  pec- 
toral, ventral  and  anal  fins  aro  paler,  but  with  the  same  markings,  and 
with  a  very  faint  indication  of  dusky  red  on  the  margins. 

Altogether,  the  Siskawitz  is  a  greener  colored  and  less  lustrous  fish 
than  the  Namayoush,  and  far  less  distinctly  spotted  ;  still  there  is  so 
much  similari^v,  that  by  a  person  not  accustomed  to  look  for  nicer 
and  more  pormanent  structural  distinctions,  the  two  species  might  be 
very  readily  confounded. 

In  form,  the  Siskawitz  is  rather  shorter  and  stouter  than  the  Mack- 
inaw fish,  and  does  not  taper  nearly  so  much  at  either  extremity.  The 
hoad  particularly,  which  in  the  other  is  very  small,  neatly  shaped, 
and  depresssd  toward  the  snout,  is  short,  thick,  and  very  obtusely 
rounded,  giving  a  coarse  and  clumsy  profile,  and  distinguishing  it  de- 
cidedly from  the  kindred  species.  On  the  shoulders  it  is  moderately 
broad,  with  the  sides  somewhat  compressed.  The  length  of  the  head 
is  about  one-fourth  of  the  whole  length  of  the  fish,  from  the  snout  to 
the  tips  of  the  caudal.  The  skull  is  strong  and  bony,  with  powerful 
lower  jaws.  The  porous  lines  and  foramina  of  the  bones,  seen  on  the 
heads  of  several  of  the  other  Trouts,  are  very  evident  and  distinctly 
marked  in  this,  as  are  the  radiating  processes  on  the  operculum  and 
preopcrculum. 

The  preoperculum  is  considerably  rounded  and  almost  vertical  ; 
the  posterior  free  margin  of  the  gill-covers  is  nearly  semicircular, 
much  less  acute  posteriorly  than  in  the  Naraaycush. 

It  has  a  very  complete  and  formidable  dental  system,  all  the  max- 
illary and  palatine  bones,  as  well  as  the  lower  jaws  and  either  side  of 
the  tongue,  being  armed  with  strong,  sharp,  curved  teeth,  and  the 
vomer  provided  with  a  double  line  extending  along  the  whole  length 
backward.  The  dorsal  fin  is  situated  nearly  midway  the  whole  length 
of  the  body ;  the  posterior  dorsal  is  thicker  and  more  clumsily  shaped 
than  in  the  preceding  species.     The  caudal  fin  is  deeply  forked. 

The  number  of  rays  in  the  several  fins  I  am,  I  regret  to  sny,  unable 
to  supply  at  present.     ,;    .   ,  :     .  ;• 

.  Neither  in  coloring  nor  in  form  therefore,  does  the  Siskawitz  equal 


\ 


p 


ifnmrmmm 


114 


AMERICAN    FISHES 


the  Mackinaw  Salmon  or  Namaycush;  it  is  in  all  respects  a  clumsier 
and  coarser  fish.  Its  flesh  is  of  the  same  nature,  though  much 
richer ;  and  when  salted,  it  commands  nearly  double  the  price  of  the 
Namaycush. 

Its  habits  and  haunts  are  almost  identical  with  those  of  the  other 
species,  like  which  it  is  not  migratory  or  anadromous,  never  entering 
the  rivers  either  for  the  purpose  of  spawning  or  in  pursuit  of  food  ; 
although  it  approaches  the  shores,  and  visits  the  gravelly  shallows  of 
the  lakes  in  autumn,  in  order  to  deposit  its  ova. 

It  is  taken  by  the  French  inhabitants  and  by  the  Indian  hunters, 
with  the  torch  and  spear,  occasionally  with  the  scan,  and  also  with  the 
long  line  in  deep  water.  It  is  said  to  strike  readily  at  a  piece  of  glit- 
tering tin,  or  mother-of-pearl,  made  to  revolve  and  glance  quickly 
through  the  water.* 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  with  good  spinning  tackle,  baited  with 
minnow,  shiners,  or  the  parr  of  the  Brook  Trout,  which  would  proba- 
bly prove  the  most  killing  of  the  three,  or  with  the  deadly  spoon,  the 
Siskawitz  might  be  angled  for  with  great  success,  and  would  afford 
good  sport,  as  it  is  a  strong  and  powerful  fish,  growing  to  twenty-five 
pounds  or  upwards,  although  its  usual  weight  does  not  exceed  fifteen 
or  sixteen  pounds. 

Neither  this  fish,  however,  nor  the  Namaycush,  nor,  so  far  as  I 
know,  any  other  of  the  non-migratory  Lake  Trout,  strikes  with  the 
same  fierceness  and  avidity,  springing  out  of  the  water  to  take  the  bait, 
and  leaping  far  and  frequently  above  the  surface  when  hooked,  as  the 
Sea  Salmon,  the  Salmon  Trout,  or  any  of  the  anadromous  species  of 
this  highly  interesting  family.  The  motion  of  the  great  lakers  is  for 
the  most  part  confined  to  a  heavy  lumbering  rush  in  pursuit  of  the 
bait,  and  to  a  strong  dead  pull  when  endeavoring  to  escape  after  being 
struck.  They  will  bore  down  desperately  at  first  into  the  deep  water, 
but  do  not  fight  with  the  swift  energy  or  resort  to  the  cunning  arti- 

NoTE  TO  Revised  Edition. — From  personal  observdtion,  since  writing  the  above, 
I  am  satisfied  that  these  large  Lake  Trout  cannot  be  angled  for  with  success,  ex- 
cept in  very  deep  water,  either  with  a  drop- line,  or  by  trolling  from  a  boat  with  a 
plummet,  and  a  cod-hook  baited  with  any  kind  of  flesh,  flsh,  or  fowl.  The  forinor 
is  the  preferable  mode.  The  Indians  kill  them  with  the  spear,  or  with  baits  through 
•he  ice,  in  immense  numbers.  Fresh,  thefar  flesh  is  coarse,  oily,  rank  and  vapid, 
•mt  when  pickled  or  smoked,  they  are  very  palatable. 


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lift 


ftcps,  of  tho  .'>rt<m')  »SV<'tfr.     Stronir  farVlo,  an  oiglitc»;n  fool  rod,  ahfi 
a  steady  li.mrl,  will  not  v.J   U)  Kr<cure  tlum,  fivri  with  fiir  h-r^.i  Mkill 

pou«l.;r  lif'iok  Trout  in  a  '|uick-'ini. 


tl 


rod  lo  tak-^  A  JLroc- 


\r\n  IS  reqiii 
ning  rirer. 

1  may  atM  here,  in  "•'Vjtiijiifttlon  .i  'bti  r<»MarkH  in»wJt;  abovt;,  undor 
the  liead  of  True  Suhif--.,  in  r.  fVreac-*  l«  th«  jounpf  fry  of,  nil  this 
faniiiy,  that  Prof«?H«.i»'  ^fltiHiz  ha-  (ii>g'>vcr',-d  th«.'  Pinks,  hotii  of  tliU 
and  thu  i^recodin^  t!!»^)i<:»s  iu  wiiut  inny  be  <!ali<'<I  thi:  Viirr  form,  with 
da^^ky  1  'tfral  tr-.H'Vjrw  har.diugH.  1  jia  «  not  judged  >t  B'»"JOfi»;try  to 
jv'vc*  outs  of  til'*'  fry,  hn  the  fujfc  may  b«"  r<;;r».ifd'-d  h»  ihoritu^ddy 
i'Sta1:)lish( '\  wid  as-  thft  other  clun.un.-.rijttl*;*!  of  tho;v*  yojma:  Liiko 
Trout  an*  .^j  Iro^d  aad  illj'tim-f.,  that  thij  <;ou!d  not  hu  ijimiiy  nm. 
taken  cdher  for  the  yomijg  of  huy  other  tj^n'nm  or  for  h  distinct 
variety. 

The  above  description^,  us  wull  ii«  the  rrtprwcjitati'-rti  «r  the  annexed 
wood-C'  it,  are  taken,  by  iieruu^s^'.oii,  which  i«  hi'tf  grutefiilly  !\cknyw- 
led'.red,  froui  .i  fipirite^i  eolorcd  hk<.'tch  by  Mr.  Klliot  Cabot,  of  Llostou, 
who  iVocniDpunied  l'>v,f;ts!«or  Ag}i».<iz  on  the  tour  abovo-njcjilioned,  and 
from  the  notes  of  th:*'  zentloirrtn, 

It  is  inibted  tivA  \lnn  notie-',  althout-'h  hr'v  i\  of  un  cifitirely  m.  w 
H'^ohvi),  will  prov)  ^Ktiafiictory  1  'th  to  the  nportfirian  ind  to  the  natu- 
ralist;  and  if  tb:  /tetition  of  itK  peculi.'uities  may  induce  the  gentle 
angL:!is  of  tlih  \>  i.iiy  to  puy  a  litth'  niore  attwntion  to  the  wtruetural 
liiflFerenees  of  fV*h'>»,  i  a»  t-o  lead  to  the  di«cnvery  of  ni^w  r-pecios, 
several  of  whieh,  it  can  har  My  he  doubted,  remain  Htil]  nondescript  in 
(he  unfreqii'.'oted  watev?*  ot  tiiis  mighty  )Mid,«ome  good  will  ,have,  been 
done  tf)  t!iB  p-eat  eanse  of  science. 


rf> 


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C/D 


C/J 


O 


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....I 


uu 


a:' 


X. 


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SALMOMIDJK. 


lis 


bees,  of  the  Salmo  Salar,  Strong  tackle,  an  eighteen  foot  rod,  and 
a  steady  hand,  will  not  fail  to  secure  them,  even  with  far  less  skill 
than  ia  req' '  .d  to  take  a  three-pounder  Brook  Trout  iu  a  quick-run- 
ning river. 

I  may  add  here,  in  continuation  of  the  remarks  made  above,  under 
the  head  of  True  Salmon,  in  reference  to  the  young  fry  of  all  this 
family,  that  Professor  Agassiz  has  discovered  the  Pinks,  both  of  this 
and  the  preceding  species  in  what  may  be  called  the  Parr  form,  with 
dusky  lateral  transverse  bandings.  I  have  not  judged  it  necessary  to 
give  cuts  of  these  fry,  as  the  fact  may  be  regarded  as  thoroughly 
established,  and  as  the  other  characteristics  of  these  young  Lake 
Trout  are  so  broad  and  distinct,  that  they  could  not  be  easily  mis- 
taken either  for  the  young  of  any  other  species  or  for  a  distinct 
variety.  \  ~ 

The  above  descriptions,  as  well  as  the  representation  in  the  annexed 
wood-cut,  are  taken,  by  permission,  which  is  here  gratefully  acknow- 
ledged, from  a  spirited  colored  sketch  by  Mr.  Elliot  Cabot,  of  Boston, 
who  accompanied  Professor  Agassiz  on  the  tour  above-mentioned,  and 
from  the  notes  of  that  gentleman. 

It  is  trusted  that  this  notice,  although  brief,  of  an  entirely  new 
Salmo,  will  prove  satisfactory  both  to  the  sportsman  and  to  the  natu- 
ralist ;  and  if  the  mention  of  its  peculiarities  may  induce  the  gentle 
anglers  of  this  country  to  pay  a  little  more  attention  to  the  structural 
differences  of  fishes,  so  as  to  lead  to  the  discovery  of  new  species, 
several  of  which,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted,  remain  still  nondescript  in 
the  unfrequented  waters  of  this  mighty  land,  some  good  will.Jiave  been 
•lone  to  the  great  cause  of  science. 


'■V        •     v--"^-- 


116 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


*  :  :  -f  -  , 


-•',"  ^ 


AllDOMINAL 
MALACOHTEUYOII. 


SALMON  I D^. 


fV.f. 


'rf 


.1^*. 


THE  LAKE  TROUT, 


fr^-. 


Salmo  Confinia »  DeKay. 

Not  having  been  enabled  this  spring  to  obtain  a  specimen  of  this 
fish,  which  1  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  do,  for  the  purpose  of  com- 
paring it  with  the  Siskawitz  and  Namaycush,  I  take  the  following 
account  from  the  New  York  Fauna  of  Dr.  DeKay,  whose  description 
of  the  fish  is  very  complete. 

It  is  a  very  closely  cognate  species  with  the  two  last  described,  but 
I  believe  it  to  be  clearly  distinct,  which  in  the  first  instance  I  was 
disposed  to  doubt. 

"  Characteristics. — Blackish,  with  numerous  gray  spots.  Body 
robust ;  comparatively  short  in  proportion  to  its  depth  ;  caudal  fin 
with  a  sinuous  margin.     Length,  two  to  four  feet. 

"  Description. — Body  stout,  thicker  and  shorter  than  the  common 
Salmon.  Length  of  the  head  to  the  total  length,  as  one  to  four  and 
and  a  half  nearly.  Dorsal  outline  curved.  Scales,  small,  orbicular, 
and  minutely  striated.  Tho  lateral  line  distinctly  marked  by  a  series 
of  tubular  plates,  arising  at  the  upper  angle  of  the  opercular  opening, 
slightly  concave  until  it  passes  over  the  base  of  the  pectoral  fin,  when 


8almonio;e. 


r? 


it  prooocdM  8tral;^ht  to  tln!  tail.  ll.'aJ  flattLiiiad  batwoen  the  cyos. 
Snout  pi'otrudoJ,  uii*!  in  w^iHl  individualM  with  a  tuburcular  cnlurgc- 
mont  on  Uh  cxtroinity.  ICyim  liirgu  ;  tlio  antcro-postorior  diameter 
of  tho  orbitH  1 .5,  and  thoir  dintanco  apart  2.5  ;  nostrils  contigu- 
ous, patent ;  tho  anterior  vertically  oval,  the  posterior  smaller  and 
rounded.  Under  jaw  shortest,  and  received  into  a  cavity  of  tho 
upper.  Tho  transverse  membrane  over  the  roof  of  tho  mouth  exceed- 
ingly tough  and  thick  ;  the  numerous  curved  teeth  in  the  jaws  partly 
concealed  by  a  loose  fleshy  membrane.  Tongue,  long,  narrow  and 
thick,  with  a  series  of  teeth  along  tho  central  furrow.  Many  scries 
of  acute  teeth  along  the  vomer  and  on  the  palatines. 

"  Tho  first  dorsal  fin  with  its  upper  margin  rounded,  sub-triangular, 
arising  somewhat  nearer  the  snout  than  tho  extremity  of  the  caudal 
rays,  higher  than  long,  measuring  4.5  in  height,  and  4.0  along  tho 
base.  It  is  cotuposud  of  fourteen  rays,  the  first  two  short,  and  imbed- 
;  ded  in  tho  flesh  ;  tho  fourth  and  flfth  rays  longest.  Tho  adipose  fin 
1.0  long,  rounded  at  tho  end,  scarcely  narrowed  at  the  base,  an  inch 
long,  and  placed  over  tho  end  of  the  anal  fin.  Pectoral  fins  broad 
and  pointed,  five  inches  long,  and  arising  slightly  behind  a  line  drawn 
from  tho  upper  posterior  angle  of  tho  oporcle.  It  is  composed  of 
fourteen  rays.  Tho  ventral  fins,  placed  nearly  under  the  centre  of 
the  dorsal  fin,  composed  of  nine  rays,  and  furnished  with  a  thick 
axillary  plate.  Anal  fin  quadrate  ;  its  extreme  height  '4.4,  and  its 
base  3.0  ;  composed  of  twelve  robust  rays.  Caudal  fin  nine  inches  iu 
extent  from  tip  to  tip,  furcate,  with  a  sinuous  margin.  ' 

^^  Color  from  a  living  specimen.  All  tho  upper  portion  of  the  head 
and  body  bluish  black,  Sides  of  tho  head,  base  of  the  first  dorsal,  of 
the  caudal  and  anal  fins,  with  numerous  rounded  u-owded  irregular 
light  spots.  On  tho  baso  of  the  dorsal  and  caudal,  the  spots  are 
oblong  light  greenish ;  chin  brownish  bronze ;  pupils  black ;  irides 
Salmon  color.  ,  Tips  of  tho  lower  fins  slightly  tinged  with  red. 

"  Length  31.3  ;  of  tho  head  7.3.     Weight  fifteen  poimds. 

"  Fin  rays,  D.  14.0  ;  P.  14  ;  V.  9  ;  A.  12  ;  C.  21f 

"  This  is  tho  well-known  Lake  Salmon,  Lake  Tiout,  or  Salmon 
Trout  of  the  State  of  Now  York.  Among  tho  thirteen  species  or 
varieties  of  Lake  Trout,  or  Lake  Salmon,  so  beautifully  illustrated 
by  Richardson,  I  cannot  find  this  species  described.     It  appears  more 


^ 


\ 


118 


AMERICAN  FISHEB. 


nearly  allied  by  the  figure  to  Salmo  Jloodii,  but  differs  in  very  impor- 
tant particulars  from  this  species.  It  occurs  in  most  of  the  northern 
lakes  of  this  State,  and  I  have  noticed  it  in  Silver  Lake,  Pennsyl- 
vania, adjacent  to  Broome  County,  which,  as  far  as  I  kuuw,  is  its 
southernmost  limit.  The  figure  illustrating  this  species  was  from  a 
specimen  taken  at  Louis  Lake,  in  Hamilton  County,  of  unusual  size 
and  vigor.  The  average  weight  is  eight  or  ten  pounds ;  but  I  have 
heard  fishermen  speak  of  some  weighing  thirty  pounds,  and  even 
more.  There  is,  however,  such  a  strong  propensity  to  exaggeration 
in  everything  in  relation  to  aquatic  animals,  that  I  refrain  from  citing 
cases  derived  from  such  sources. 

"  They  frequent  the  deepest  part  of  the  lake,  and  unlike  most  of 
their  congeners,  never  rise  to  the  fly. 

"  The  flesh  is  of  course  much  prized  in  those  districts  where  no 
oceanic  fish  is  ever  tasted ;  but  to  mo  it  appears  to  possess  all  the 
coarseness  of  the  Halibut  without  its  flavor." 

This,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  general  remarks  on  its  habits,  is 
all  that  Dr.  DeKay  has  recorded  of  this  fish. 

'  I  cannot,  however,  proceed,  without  expressing  my  great  surprise 
at  Dr.  DeKay's  opinion  of  its  resemblance  to  the  Salmo  Iloodiiy 
known  also  as  the  Arctic  Charr,  the  Mingan  river  Salmon,  and  the 
Masaraacoosh*  of  the  Cree  Indians.  This  is  a  decided  long-finned 
Charr,  beautifully  colored,  of  a  rich  lake  purple,  with  numerous  bright 
golden  spots,  and  the  red  belly  of  the  proper  Charr.  It  is,  probably, 
an  anadromous  species,  running  up  the  swift  rivers  of  the  north,  and 
descending  to  the  salt-water  to  recruit.  Its  flesh  is  bright  red.  In 
shape,  again,  it  differs  entirely  from  the  fish  before  us,  being  the 
longest  and  most  slender  of  all  the  Salmonida  of  this  continent,  some- 
what  resembling  the  German  Hucho  in  shape. 

I  can  see  nothing  in  which  it  can  be  compared  to  any  of  the  Lake 
Trout,  and  least  of  all  to  this,  which  is  the  most  worthless  of  all  the 
non-migratory  species.  It  is  found  I  believe  in  Lake  Ontario,  below 
the  Falls  of  Niagara,  and  certainly  in  all  the  New  England  lakes  so 
far  to  the  eastward  as  the  State  of  Maine.  In  the  British  provinces, 
with  the  exception  of  Lakes  Mephramagog  and  Champlain,  I  do  not 
think  that  it  exists. 

From  a  careful  comparison  of  the  cut  in  Dr.  DeKay's  work,  plate 


•ALMONIUX, 


n» 


38,  fig.  123,  as  well  as  from  his  dosoription  of  its  coloring,  I  iiuvo  do 
hesitation  in  pronouncing  it  far  more  nearly  connc'cd  with  the  Si»ka- 
witz  of  Frof.  Agassiz,  than  with  any  other  of  its  congeners,  although 
tho  olungateJ  head,  the  shupo  of  the  fins,  and  especially  the  lube-liko 
formatiuu  of  tho  caudal,  clearly  distinguishes  it  from  this  species. 

It  is  to  bo  regretted,  however,  that  in  tho  work  of  tho  niugnitudo 
and  iinportanco  of  tho  New  York  Fauna  of  tho  State  of  New  York, 
tho  plates  should  bo,  as  they  aro,  so  atrociously  executed,  ti.at  for 
matters  of  scientiflo  examination  they  are  all  but  uscle  while  as 
pictorial  illustrations,  they  are  below  contempt. 

Note  to  Reviikd  Edition. — See  Supplement.  Art.  Lnke  Trout,  Salmo 
Confinii.  The  quality  of  this  fish  differs  entirely  witli  tlie  different  waters 
from  wlilch  it  ia  taken.  In  tlie  New  England  watero,  it  ia  generally  bad.  In 
Beneoa  Lako«  and  tlie  Ilainiiton  County  waters,  unequivocally  admirable,  and 
exceeded  neither  by  Sea  Salmon  nor  Brook  Trout. 


120 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERYGII. 


SALMONID^. 


SALMON  TROUT. 


SEA    TROUT WHITE    TROUT. 


Salmo  Trutta;  Yarrel. 


This  beautiful  fish,  which  is  the  Salmon  Trout  of  the  Thames,  the 
Sea  Trout  of  Scotland,  and  the  White  Trou^  of  Wales,  Devonshire, 
and  Ireland,  is  found  nowhere  on  the  continent  of  America  except 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick  and  in  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence. 

It  must  on  no  account  be  confounded,  as  it  has  boen  by  Dr.  Smith 
in  his  "  Fishes  of  Massachusetts,"  with  the  Brook  Trout,  Salmo  F(m- 
tinalis,  when  they  run  down  and  remain  permanently  in  salt-water, 
as  they  do,  more  or  less,  along  the  whole  south  side  of  Long  Island, 
but  especially  at  Fireplace,  at  Waqroit  bay,  on  Cape  Cod,  and  pro- 
bably at  many  other  points  along  the  eastern  coast;  for  the  fish  arc 
totally  distinct,  as  will  be  shown  hereafter. 

"  It  is  distinguished,"  says  Yarrel,  "  by  the  gill-cover  being  inter- 
mediate in  its  form  between  that  of  the  Salmon  and  the  Bull  Trout 
The  posterior  free  margin  is  less  rounded  than  that  of  the  Salmon, 
but  more  so  than  that  of  the  Bull  Trout.     The  line  of  union  of  tho 


8ALH0NIDJE. 


121 


operculum  with  the  suboperculum,  and  the  inferior  margin  of  the  sub- 
operculum  are  oblique,  forming  a  considerable  angle  with  the  axb  of 
the  body  of  the  fish.  The  posterior  edge  of  the  preoperculum  rounded, 
not  sinuous,  as  in  the  Bull  Trout.  The  teeth  are  more  slender  as 
well  as  more  numerous  than  in  the  Salmon  or  Bull  Trout ;  those  on 
the  vomer  extending  along  a  great  part  of  the  length,  and  indenting 
the  tongue  deeply  between  the  two  rows  of  teeth  that  are  there  placed, 
one  row  along  each  side.  The  tail  is  less  forked  at  the  same  age  than 
that  of  the  Salmon,  but  becomes  like  it,  square  at  the  end,  after  the 
third  year.  The  size  and  surface  of  the  tail  also  is  much  smaller 
than  that  of  the  Salmon,  from  the  shortness  of  the  caudal  rays. 

"  The  habits  of  this  species  are  also  very  like  those  of  the  Sal- 
mon, and  the  females  are  said  to  run  up  the  rivers  before  the  males. 
Sir  William  Jardine  says :  *  In  approaching  the  entrance  of  rivers, 
or  in  seeking  out,  as  it  were,  some  one  they  preferred,  shoals  of 
this  fish  may  be  seen  coasting  the  shoals  and  headlands,  leaping  and 
sporting  in  great  numbers,  from  about  one  pound  to  three  or  four 
pounds  in  weight ;  and  in  some  of  the  smaller  bays  the  shoal  could  be 
traced  several  times  circling  it,  and  apparently  feeding.  They  enter 
every  river  and  rivulet  in  immense  numbers,  and  when  fishing  for 
Salmon,  are  annoying  for  their  quantity.  The  food  of  those  taken 
with  the  rod  in  the  estuaries  appeared  very  indiscriminate  ;  occasion- 
ally the  remains  of  some  small  fish,  which  were  too  much  digested 
to  be  discriminated ;  sometimes  flies,  beetles,  or  other  insects,  which 
the  wind  or  tide  had  carried  out ;  but  the  most  general  food  seemed 
to  be  the  Talitris  Lomsta,  or  common  sand-hopper,  with  which  some 
of  their  stomachs  were  completely  crammed.' 

"  The  largest  adult  fish  of  this  species  I  have  ever  seen,"  Mr. 
Yarrel  adds,  "  was  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Groves,  the  fishmonger  in 
Bond-street.  This  specimen,  which  occurred  in  June,  1831,  was  a 
female,  in  very  fine  condition,  and  weighed  seventeen  pounds." 

Never  having  myself  seen  this  fish  in  America,  although  perfectly 
familiar  with  it  in  Great  Britain,  but  having  good  reason  for  being 
sure  that  it  existed  in  the  great  estuary  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  in  the 
bays  of  Gaspe  and  Chalcurs,  I  wrote,  so  soon  as  I  decided  on  the 
preparation  of  this  work,  to  a  friend,  Mr.  Perley,  in  New  Brunswick, 
Her  Majesty's  emigration  officer  at  St.  John,  knowing  that  I  might 


122 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


rely  as  well  on  his  kindness  in  supplying  me  with  any  information  he 
might  possess  on  the  subject,  as  on  his  skill  and  thoroughness  as  a 
sportsman  and  fly-fisher,  and  his  science  as  an  icthyologist. 

He  obligingly  replied  to  me  at  length,  beside  sending  me  a  highly 
valuable  report  on  the  Fisheries  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  fully 
confirming  my  opinion  of  the  existence  of  this  noble  and  sporting  fish 
in  the  Province. 

Without  farther  comment  I  proceed  to  lay  his  observations  before 
my  readers,  premising  only,  that  while  they  fully  prove  the  identity 
of  the  New  Brunswick  White  Trout  with  the  Salmon  Trout  of  Yarrel, 
Salmo  Truttay  and  distinguish  it  from  the  Brook  Trout,  whether  Eng- 
lish or  American,  Salmo  Fario^  or  Salmo  Fontinalis,  they  show  some 
remarkable  differences  in  habit  from  the  same  fish  in  the  British  Islands. 

"  You  will  perceive,"  says  Mr.  Perley,  "  that,  under  official  orders, 
I  have  been  compelled  to  go  into  natural  history  ;  and  that  you  may 
see  the  whole,  I  send  some  reports  printed  in  1847,  including  one  on 
the  Forest  Trees  of  New  Brunswick.  I  procured  the  second  edition 
of  Yarrel,  when  in  London  last  year,  and  the  beautiful  supplement 
containing  the  plates  of  the  Salmon,  from  the  little  Parr  up  to  the 
grilse  of  two  years,  all  of  which  I  have  been  compelled  to  study. 

"  The  White  Trout  of  the  gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  is  precisely  simi- 
lar to  the  Salmo  Trutta  of  Yarrel.  The  drawing  of  Vol.  XL,  p.  77, 
second  edition,  is  a  very  good  representation  of  our  White  Trout.  In 
June,  when  in  the  finest  condition,  they  are  somewhat  deeper  than 
there  represented  " — the  cut  at  the  head  of  this  paper  is  a  fac  similie 
of  the  plate  in  Yarrel  alluded  to  by  Mr.  Perley — ^"  the  shoulder  is 
then  exceedingly  thick ;  the  head,  especially  in  the  female,  is  very 
small.  I  never  heard  of  any  weighing  more  than  seven  pounds.  I 
have  never  seen  a  White  Trout  on  this  side  of  the  province,  or  any- 
where except  within  the  gulf.  They  are  of  delicious  flavor  when  new- 
ly caught,  the  white  curds  lying  thick  between  the  bright  pink  flakes ; 
and  they  do  not  cloy  like  the  Salmon.  , 

"  Many  of  the  common  Trout,  Salmo  Fario"*^ — Fontinalis  ? — 
'*  also  visit  the  mixed  water  of  the  estuaries,  and  very  likely  go  out  to 
sea.  They  then  acquire  a  peculiar  silvery  brilliancy,  and  their  con- 
dition becomes  greatly  improved  ;  but  they  cannot  be  mistaken,  even 
then,  for  the  White  Trout.     They  are  a  longer  fish — their  heads  are 


W 


/• 


8ALM0NID£. 


123 


larger — ^the  color  of  the  spots  is  more  brilliant,  and  there  are  more  of 
them  ;  and  the  tri-colored  fins  leave  no  room  for  doubt,  as  the  fins  of 
the  White  Trout  are  very  pale,  and  of  a  bluish  white.  When  first 
lifted  from  the  sea,  the  backs  of  the  White  Trout  are  of  a  bluish 
green,  just  the  color  of  the  wave ;  and  the  under  part  of  the  fish 
sparkles  like  molten  silver." 

In  a  report  of  the  fly-fishing  of  the  Province,  which  Mr.  Perley 
was  good  enough  to  enclose,  I  find  also  the  following  pertinent  remarks 
on  this  fish : 

"  It  is  to  be  understood,"  he  says,  "  that  the  whole  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  abounds  with  White  Trout,  from  one  to  seven  pounds  in 
weight.  They  proceed  up  the  rivers  as  far  as  the  head  of  the  tide  in 
each,  but  they  never  ascend  into  the  purely  fresh  water.  In  the  salt- 
water they  are  caught  only  with  the  *  Prince  Edward's  Island  fiy,'  so 
called,  the  body  of  which  is  of  scarlet  with  gold  tinsel,  or  of  gold 
tinsel  only,  with  four  wings  from  feathers  of  4)he  scarlet  ibis — the 
curry-curry '  of  South  America. 

"  In  the  estuaries  of  rivers  where  the  water  is  only  brackish  they 
take  the  Irish  lake-fiy  with  gay  colors ;  the  scarlet  ibis  seems  the  most 
attractive,  however,  in  all  cases.  In  the  fresh- water  the  Trout  are 
quite  diflferent ;  they  are  much  longer,  v«ry  brilliantly  colored,  with 
tri-colored  fins  of  black,  white  and  scarlet,  and  numerous  bright  spots 
over  the  body.  When  the  fish  are  in  good  condition  these  spots  are 
nearly  as  large  as  a  silver  penny.  They  rarely  exceed  three  pounds 
in  weight,  but  are  a  very  sporting  fish  ;  they  take  most  of  the  Irish 
flies,  but  the  red  hackb  in  all  its  varieties  is  the  favorite.  A  brilliant 
hackle,  over  a  yellow  or  fiary  brown  body,  kills  everywhere,  all  the 
season  through. 

"  The  Sea-Trout  fishing,  in  the  bays  and  harbors  of  *  Prince  Ed- 
ward's Island,'  especially  in  June,  when  the  fish  first  rush  in  from  the 
gulf,  is  really  magnificent ;  they  average  from  three  to  five  pounds 
each.  I  found  the  best  fishing  at  St.  Peter's  bay,  on  the  north  side 
of  the  island,  about  twenty-eight  miles  from  Charlotte's  town.  I  there 
killed  in  one  morning  sixteen  Trout,  which  weighed  eighty  pounds. 

"  In  the  bays,  and  along  the  coasts  of  the  island,  they  are  taken  with 
the  scarlet  fly,  from  a  boat  under  easy  sail,  with  a  '  mackerel  breeze,' 
and  oftentimes  a  heavy  *  ground  swell.'    The  fly  skips  from  wave  to 


124 


AMERICAN    FISHES 


wave  at  the  end  of  thirty  yards  of  line,  and  there  should  be  at  least 
seventy  yards  more  on  the  reel.  It  is  splendid  sport !  as  a  strong  fish 
will  make  sometimes  a  long  run,  and  give  a  good  ohase  down  the 
wind." 

This  clear,  able  and  sportsmanlike  account  of  this  fine  fish  perfect- 
ly establishes  the  fact  of  its  existence  as  a  distinct  species,  intermediate 
between  the  true  Salmon,  Salmo  Salar^  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
Brook  Trout,  Salmo  FoiUinaliSj  on  the  other.  And  it  must  on  no  ac- 
count be  confounded  with  the  non-migratory  Lake  Trouts,  which  have 
been  just  described,  and  which  are  sometimes  erroneously  and  absurdly 
called  Salmon  Trout.  They  never  quit  the  purely  fresh-water — these 
never  leave  it.     These  are  anadromous,  those  stationary. 

Those  are  a  worthless  fish,  both  to  the  sportsman  and  the  epicure, 
comparatively  speaking ;  these  are  in  all  respects  the  most  valuable 
of  the  species,  with  the  exception  only  of  the  true  Salmon  ;  and  nei- 
ther in  excellence  of  fiavor  nor  in  sporting  qualifications  do  they  fall 
behind  even  him,  although  they  are  far  inferior  in  weight  and  size. 

Mr.  Yarrel  states  that  the  length  of  the  head  in  this  fish  is  as  one 
to  four  to  the  length  of  the  whole  body,  and  the  depth  of  the  body  to 
the  length  the  same.  The  teeth,  small  and  numerous,  occupying  five 
rows  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  mouth,  those  of  the  central  row,  on 
the  vomer,  extending  some  distance  along  it,  the  points  turning  alter- 
nately to  each  side,  one  row  on  each  side  of  the  under  jaw,  and  three 
or  four  teeth  on  each  side  of  the  tongue,  strong,  sharp,  and  curving 
backwards,  well  calculated  to  secure  a  living  prey,  or  convey  food  to- 
wards the  pharynx. 

The  dorsal  fin-rays  are  twelve  in  number,  the  pectoral  thirteen,  the 
ventral  nine,  the  anal  ten,  and  the  caudal  nineteen.  When  the  Sal- 
mon Trout  is  placed  by  the  side  of  a  Salmon,  it  is  in  comparison 
darker  in  color  in  the  body,  but  lighter  in  the  color  of  the  fins. 

It  is  with  great  satisfaction  that  I  am  enabled  to  present  this  beauti- 
ful and  gallant  fish  to  my  readers,  and  to  establish  with  certainty  its 
identity  with  the  Salmo  Trutta  of  Yarrel,  and  its  existence  in  the 
North  American  Provinces.  This  fiish  has  hitherto  never  been  de- 
cribed  in  any  American  sporting  work,  nor  I  believe  in  any  work  of 
a  scientific  character,  as  an  American  species,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Parliamentary  reports  of  Mr.  Perley.     The  f.sh  described  as  the 


X 


SALMON  I  D£. 


12A 


Salme  TrvMa  in  the  American  Angler's  Guide,  and  in  Smith  s  Fishes 
of  Massachusetts,  is,  as  I  have  already  observed,  nothing  resembling 
it,  but  the  very  Brook  Trout  described  above,  with  the  tri-oolored  fin, 
improved  by  a  visit  to  salt-water. 

I  may  here  observe,  en-patsantj  that  my  distinguished  friend,  Mr. 
Agassiz,  was  not  aware,  a  few  months  since,  of  the  existence  of  this 
fish  as  an  American  species. 

It  cannot  fail  to  prove  a  great  acquisition  to  the  list  of  the  American 
angler,  as  there  is  no  bolder  or  better  fish,  and  its  haunts  are  of  no 
difficult  access.  I  learn  that  an  English  yacht  is  already  fitting  out, 
in  order  to  take  the  field  against  the  Sea  Trout  in  the  gulf  this  very 
summer  ;  and  I  doubt  not  that  ere  long  some  of  our  New  York  clip- 
pers will  spread  their  wings  in  emulation  of  their  brothers  of  the  angle 
from  the  eastern  side  of  the  broad  Atlantic.  I  can  conceive  no  more 
delightful  trip,  no  more  exciting  rivalry. 

Note  to  Rbtisbd  Edition. — Mr.  Perley  writei  me,  under  date  of  October  19, 
that  during  a  racent  visit  to  the  bay  of  Gaape,  he  hat  ascertained  that  the  Salmon 
Trout  pursue  the  Smelts  into  the  rivers  and  harbors,  and  return  to  the  sea  as  soon 
as  the  Smelt  ascend  tha  brooks.  It  appears  that  they  do  not  spawn  or  breed  in 
America. 


126 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERYGII. 


SALMONID^ 


THE  MASAMACUSH. 


HOOD'S    CHARR 


Salttto  Hoodii;   Richardson. 


This  beautiful  fish  is  given  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Richardson,  by 
whom  it  appears  to  have  been  first  described,  although  discovered  by 
Lieutenant  Hood,  in  Fine  Island  lake,  latitude  54°. 

It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  this  fish  should  have  so  long  re- 
mained unknown,  as  it  is  stated  by  its  describer  "  to  be  common  in 
every  lake  and  river  from  Canada  to  the  northern  extremity  of  the 
continent."  Whether  this  includes  the  great  lakes  above  the  Fallsof 
Niagara,  it  ts  not  stated,  although  the  language  would  authorise  that 
interpretation  ;  no  distinct  mention  is  made  of  it,  however,  as  having 
been  taken  south  of  the  Mingan  river,  which  empties  into  the  estuary 
of  St.  Lawrence  somewhere  about  the  latitude  of  50°  ;  all  the  other 
specimens  described  being  taken  in  Winter  lake,  or  in  the  waters  of 
Boothia  Felix  ;  it  is  scarcely  possible,  however,  but  that  it  must  be 
found  to  the  southward  of  this  line,  to  justify  the  words  of  so  accurate 
and  correct  a  writer  as  Dr.  Richardson. 

At  all  events,  the  Mingan  river  is  in  Canada  proper,  in  the  lord- 


BALMOtf  lt>X. 


127 


ship  of  Mingan,  and  is  constantly  visited,  for  the  purpose  of  Salmon 
fishing,  by  yachting  parties  from  Quebec,  scarcely  a  year  occurring 
but  one  or  more  vessels  arc  fitted  out  for  this  wild  spot,  which  b 
nearly  opposite  to  the  northern  side  of  the  inhospitable,  and  nearly 
if  not  absolutely  uninhabited  island  of  Anticosti,  the  sport  amply 
repaying  the  time  and  trouble. 

I  am  personally  acquainted  with  several  very  accomplished  Salmon 
fisL  rho  are  at  home  on  thngQ  waters,  yet  by  none  of  these  have  I 
over  i...,rd  any  mention  o'  Uiis  fish,  and  I  am  well  satisfied  that 
although  it  must,  I  presume,  have  been  taken  by  them  frequently,  it 
has  entirely  escaped  their  observation,  being  probably  confounded, 
either  with  the  Salmon,  or  the  Salmon  Trout,  although  entirely  dis- 
tinct from  either.  It  is  remarkable  as  being  the  only  Charr  that  is 
found  in  the  inhabited  portions  of  the  United  States  or  Canada,  for 
although  Richardson  designates  the  common  Brook  Trout,  Salmo 
Fontinalis,  as  the  New-  York  Charr ^  I  confess  I  am  at  a  loss  to  per- 
ceive any  grounds  for  so  specifying  it.  One  ot  the  marked  charac- 
teristics of  the  Charr,  the  greater  comparative  height  of  the  dorsal  fin, 
which  will  be  readily  observed  in  the  cut  at  the  head  of  this  paper,  is 
entirely  wanting  in  the  Brook  Trout,  and  although  the  vomerine  teeth 
are  disposed  in  a  cluster  in  that  species,  after  the  manner  of  the 
Charrs,  this  alone  hardly  appears  to  me  a  sufficient  reason  for  altering 
its  nomenclature. 

The  other  varieties  of  Charr,  the  Angmalook,  Salmo  Nitidus^  and 
the  long-finned  Charr,  Salmo  Ji^ipes,  are  found  in  the  small  lakes  and 
rivers  of  Boothia  Felix,  but  as  that  far  northern  peninsula  is  utterly 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  most  determined  angler,  it  is  useless  to  give 
them  more  than  this  mere  passing  notice. 

The  Masamacush  is,  on  the  contrary,  within  easy  reach  of  rJl  who 
are  willing  to  travel  distances,  without  incurring  either  risk  or  fatigue, 
in  pursuit  of  their  game,  and  b  found,  moreover,  in  the  very  waters 
which  afford  the  greatest  variety  and  the  highest  attractions  to  tho 
scientific  fly-fisher,  in  their  abundance  of  Salmon,  Salmon  Trout,  and 
Brook  Trout.  It  is  also  a  bold  and  daring  bit^r,  voraciously  seizing 
a  bait  of  sucking  carp,  pork,  deer^s  heart,  or  the  belly  of  one  of  its 
own  species  affixed  upon  a  cod-hook.  "  We  took  many  at  Fort  En- 
terprbe,  in  March,  in  gill-nets  set  under  the  ice,"  says  Dr.  Richard- 


■IPNIMMli 


128 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


son,  "  in  the  neighborhood  of  an  open  rapid  by  which  the  waters  of 
Winter  lake  were  discharged  into  a  river  that  remained  frozen  up 
until  June.  At  that  time  their  stomachs  were  filled  with  the  larvae 
of  insects.  During  the  summer  this  fish  is  supposed  to  retire  to  the 
depths  of  the  lakes,  but  it  reappears  in  smaller  numbers  in  the 
autumn,  and  is  occasionally  taken  in  the  winter  in  nets,  but  seldom 
by  the  hook,  except  in  the  spring.  The  spawning  season  is  in  April 
or  May,  judging  from  the  great  development  the  spawn  then  acquires, 
though  the  spawning  beds  are  unknown  to  us.  The  Masamacush 
attains  a  weight  of  eight  pounds,  but  begins  to  spawn  before  it  weighs 
more  than  two  or  three." 

Dr.  Richardson  does  not  state  whether  this  fish  will  take  the  fly  or 
not,  but  as  it  is  not  the  general  habit  of  the  non-migratory  Trout  of 
the  American  lakes,  or  of  the  British  Charr,  to  do  so,  it  may,  1  think, 
be  presumed  that  the  Masamacush,  where  he  exists  in  lakes,  is  to  be 
taken  by  trolling  in  deep  water  with  a  small  Trout  or  other  fish  upon 
a  heavily-weighted  hook,  with  spinning  tackle. 

It  is  not  distinctly  stated,  and  probably  is  not  ascertained,  whether 
this  is  an  anadromous  or  non-migratory  fish.  The  Charrs,  for  the 
most  part,  are  found  only  in  the  deepest  parts  of  the  lakes  which  they 
inhabit,  and  rarely  enter  the  streams  which  feed  or  drain  these  but 
for  the  purpose  of  spawning,  when  they  seek  out  the  clearest  and 
swiftest  rivers  running  on  gravel  bottoms. 

The  fact,  however,  that  the  Masamacush  is  taken  in  the  Mingan 
river,  a  powerful  body  of  water  having  direct  communication  with  the 
dca,  would  go  far  to  prove  that  he  is  an  anadromous  fish  there,  at 
least,  visiting  the  sea,  and  returning  to  spawn ;  although  it  is  very 
probable  that  like  many  of  this  family,  and  like  his  own  congener, 
the  Angmaluok,  he  can  exist  indifferently  in  fresh  or  salt-water. 

Like  all  the  Charrs,  he  is  red-fleshed,  and  of  delicious  flavor.  And 
from  these  facts,  were  it  not  that  the  Masamacush  is  said  not  to 
exceed  eight  pounds  in  weight,  I  should  be  vastly  inclined  to  suspect 
his  identity  with  the  red-fleshed  and  bright-colored  lake-fish,  which 
is  occasionally  taken  in  the  Hamilton  County  waters,  as  mentioned  by 

Note  to  Second  Edition. — I  believe  at  present,  from  my  observation  in  the 
Northern  Lakes,  that  it  is  of  no  nee  to  attempt  to  take  any  of  the  Great  Lake  Trout 
on  Claire  with  the  fly  ;  and  that  they  will  rarely  hook  even  at  a  trolled  bait.  Heavy 
lAfld  and  a  lone  drcp-iine  iu  sixty  to  one  hundred  feet  wat^r  «r>!i  alone  f«)ich  ihem 


/ 


8ALM0NIDA. 


129 


Dr.  Bethune  in  hia  beautiful  edition  of  Wolton^s  Angler,  at  pago 
138,  in  a  note  ;  and  as  described  to  me  by  Mr.  Webber,  the  author 
of  a  sories  of  very  agreeable  letters  conoeining  the  fishing  of  that 
region,  which  were  published  in  the  columns  of  the  New  York 
Courier  and  Inquirer  during  the  past  summer. 

It  is  very  unfortunate  that,  so  far,  none  of  the  gentlemen  who  have 
been  so  lucky  as  to  take  this  highly-colored  and  fine  fish,  have  pos- 
flessed  sufficient  scientific  knowledge  to  examine  and  record  its  cha- 
racteristics in  such  a  manner  as  to  allow  us  to  decide  upon  its  identity 
with  any  known  species. 

The  only  thing  which  appears  to  be  certain,  is  this :  that  it  does 
not  belong  to  any  one  of  the  three  known  species  of  the  non-migra- 
tory Lake  Trout.  As  it  is  said  to  have  been  taken  by  the  President 
of  the  Piseco  Club,  a  gentleman  on  whose  authority  perfect  reliance 
may  be  placed,  up  to  the  great  weight  of  twenty-four  pounds,  this 
must,  in  my  opinion,  be  either  an  entirely  nondescript  fish,  or  merely 
a  Brook  Trout  of  gigantic  dimensions. 

It  is  generally  described  as  being  square- tailed,  with  two  rows  of 
red  spots,  the  ventrals  and  pectorals  deeply  tinged  with  vermillion, 
and  the  flesh  of  a  bright  glowing  carnation,  and  a  delicious  flavor 
Now,  this  description  coincides  with  no  described  fish  of  North 
America,  though  nearly  agreeing  with  that  of  the  great  common 
English  Trout  of  the  Thames,  and  of  the  Irish  lakes  and  rivers. 

But  to  return  to  the  Masamacush,  as  it  is  known  to  exist  in  the 
northern  waters. 

Its  body,  as  will  be  observed  in  the  cut,  is  more  slender  than  that 
of  any  of  the  Salmonida  heretofore  described,  and  the  head  is  about 
a  sixth  of  the  total  length.  The  lower  jaw,  when  the  mouth  is  closed, 
projects  beyond  the  upper  one  by  the  depth  of  the  chin,  and  it 
appoai-s  longer  yet  when  the  mouth  is  open. 

The  teeth  of  the  labials,  intermaxillaries  and  lower  jaw,  are  very 
small,  short,  conical,  acute,  and  slightly  curved — on  the  palatine 
bones  there  is  a  row  of  larger  teeth  mixed  with  smaller  ones,  and  on 
the  knob  of  the  vomer,  a  cluster  of  six  or  seven.  The  tongue  is 
armed  with  a  single  row  on  each  side,  which  meet  in  a  curve  at  the  tip ; 
there  are  also  two  or  three  scattered  teeth  on  the  centre  of  the 
tongue.    The  rakers  and  pharyngeal  bones  are  armed  with  short  teeth 


130 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


like  velvet  pUe.  Of  the  giU-oovers,  the  operculum  is  very  narrow, 
its  transverse  diameter  being  scarcely  half  its  height.  The  subopor- 
culum  exceeds  the  half  of  its  length  in  height. 

The  Masamacush  of  the  Mingan  river,  which  is  the  fish  in  its 
normal  form,  according  to  Dr.  Richardson,  from  whom  this  account 
is  abridged,  has  ten  gill-rays  on  one  side,  eleven  on  the  other  ;  dorsal 
fin-rays  twelve,  pectoral  thirteen,  ventral  eight,  anal  ten,  and  caudal 
nineteen. 

The  back  and  sides  of  this  fish  are  intermediate  between  olive 
green  and  clove  brown,  bestuddcd  with  yellowish  gray  spots  as  big  as 
a  pea.  A  few  of  these  spots  on  the  gill-covers.  Belly  and  under 
jaw  white  ;  the  latter  dotted  thinly  with  bluish  gray. 

The  Arctic  fish  is  brighter  in  color  ;  the  back  and  sides  being 
purple,  the  spots  distinctly  yellow,  and  the  sides,  below  the  lateral 
line,  tinged  with  a  flush  of  lake. 


Before  proceeding  to  the  Grayling,  which,  though  of  this  family,  is 
not  a  proper  Salmon,  but  of  the  subgenus  ThymaUus^  I  will  observe 
that  the  opinion  which  I  hazarded  in  my  introductory  remarks  con- 
cerning the  existence  of  a  distinct  Salmon  in  Sebago  lake,  near  Port- 
land, in  Maine,  known  as  the  Sebago  Trout,  and  which  I  proposed  to 
designate  as  Salmo  Sebago,  is  fully  carried  out  by  the  information 
which  I  have  received  since  writing  those  remarks,  from  a  thorough 
sportsman,  well  acquainted  with  all  the  described  species. 

He  assures  mo  that  the  waters  of  that  lake  did  contain  a  Salmon 
closely  resembling  the  Salmo  Salar,  but  which  has  in  all  probability 
become  extinct.  At  the  date  of  his  writing,  he  was  about  to  set  forth 
on  a  visit  to  the  lake,  and  should  a  fish  be  procurable,  I  shall  receive 
it,  although  not  in  time  to  include  it  in  the  body  of  the  work,  at  least 
in  season  to  be  embodied  in  the  appendix. 


/■ 


SALMONIDit:. 


131 


AnnOMINAL 
MALACOPTEIITOII. 


BALMONIDiE. 


BACK'S  GRAYLING. 


THE  ARCTIC  ORAYLING. 


Thymallua  Sigui/er  /  Richardson,  Cmltt.—Hewlook-powak  ;  IJsquimaux.— Poi«. 

»on  Bleu ;  Can.  Voy. 

The  exceeding  beauty,  and  remarkably  game  qualities  of  this  noble 
fish,  have  induced  me  to  give  him  a  place  in  these  pages,  to  which  his 
place  of  nativity  hardly  entitles  him,  as  he  is,  I  fear,  to  be  found  no 
where  southward  of  the  62nd  parallel  of  latitude,  between  Mackenzie's 
river  and  the  Welcome.  "  Its  highly  appropriate  Esquimaux  title," 
says  Dr.  Richardson,  from  whose  fine  work  on  the  Fauna  of  Arctic 
America  J  have  borrowed  both  the  matter  of  this  paper  and  the  cut 
at  the  head  of  this  page,  "  denoting  '  wing-like  fin,'  alludes  to  its  mag- 
nificent dorsal ;  and  it  was  in  reference  to  the  same  feature  that  I  be- 
stowed upon  it  the  specific  appellation  of  Signifer^  '  the  standard- 
bearer,'  intending  also  to  advert  to  the  rank  of  my  companion.  Cap- 
tain Back,  then  a  midshipman,  who  took  the  first  specimen  we  saw 
with  the  artificial  flv." 

I  may  remark  here,  that  the  European  Grayling  has  the  similar  ap- 
pellation of  VexiUifer^  or  the  "  banner-bearer,"  in  allusion  to  the  same 
feature,  althou^V  ^e  fin  is  greatly  inferior  in  size  to  that  of  the  fish 


132 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


ot  which  I  am  .«poakiDg.  Tho  allusion  to  Captain  Back,  then  a  mid- 
Mhipman,  ia  founded  on  tho  fact,  that  midshipmen  in  the  British  nuvy, 
rauk  08  ensigns  in  tho  army,  and  that  Fronoh  officers  of  the  same 
grade,  are  styled  enseigne  de  vaisseaUf  in  consequence  of  the  same 
analogy. 

Dr.  Richardson  proceeds  to  observe  that  "  it  is  found  only  in  clear 
waters,  and  seems  to  delight  in  tho  most  rapid  part  of  mountain 
streams  In  tho  autumn  of  1820,  we  obtained  many  by  angling  in 
a  rapid  7f  the  Winter  river,  opposite  to  Fort  Enterprise.  The  sport 
was  excellent,  for  this  Grayling  generally  springs  entirely  out  of  water 
when  first  struck  by  the  hook,  and  tugs  strongly  at  the  line,  requiring 
as  mu'Ax  dexterity  to  land  it  safely  as  it  would  to  secure  a  Trout  of  six 
times  the  size. 

And  this  I&tter  would  be  no  small  feat,  since  I  find  elsewhere  that 
tho  fish  grows  to  five  or  six  pounds  weight,  greatly  exceeding  his  Eu- 
ropean congeaer  in  size,  as  he  does  also  in  vigor  and  brilliancy  of 
coloring. 

"  The  charac(«rs  by  which  tho  Graylings  are  distinguished  from  the 
Trouts,"  continues  Dr.  Richardson,  "  in  the  rbgne  animal^  are  the 
smallncss  of  the  mouth,  the  fineness  of  the  teeth,  the  great  size  of  the 
dorsal  fin,  and  the  largeness  of  the  scales.  The  stomach  is  a  very 
thick  sac  ;  the  gill-rays  are  sevon  or  eight  in  number." 

Tho  color  of  this  beautiful  fish,  is  stated  by  the  same  author  to  be 
as  follows  :  "  Back  dark ;  sides  of  a  hue  intermediate  between  lavender 
purple  and  bluish  gray ;  belly  blackish  gray  with  several  irregular 
whitish  blotches.  There  are  several  quadrangular  spots  of  Prussian 
blue,  on  the  anterior  part  of  the  body,  each  tinging  the  margin  of  four 
adjoining  scales.  The  head  is  hair  brown  above,  the  cheeks  and  gill 
covers  the  same,  combined  with  purplish  tints,  and  there  is  a  blue 
mark  on  each  side  of  the  lower  jaw.  The  dorsal  fin  has  a  blackish 
gray  color,  with  some  lighter  blotches,  and  is  crossed  by  rows  of  beau- 
tiful Berlin-blue  spots ;  it  is  edged  with  light  lake-red.  The  ventrals 
are  streaked  with  reddish  and  whitish  lines  i.*.  the  direction  of  their 
rays. 

"  The  scales  are  covered  with  a  thickish  epidermis,  consequently 
having  little  lustre. 

"  The  body  is  compressed  with  an  elliptical  profile,  the  head,  when 


salmonioa: 


133 


tho  mouth  in  fthut,  ending  aoutoly,  but  when  viewed  from  above,  or  ic 
front,  tho  snout  is  obtuse.  Tho  greatest  depth  of  the  body  is  searocl^ 
one-fifth  of  the  total  length,  caudal  included.  The  head  is  small, 
being  one-sixth  of  the  total  length,  excluding  tho  caudal,  or  one- 
seventh  including  it.  Orbit  large,  distant  half  its  diameter  from  the 
snout,  and  two  diameters  from  tho  edge  of  the  gill-cover.  Nostrils 
midway  bctwoon  the  orbit  and  the  tip  of  the  snout.  Mouth  not  cloven 
us  far  back  as  tho  edge  of  tho  orbit.  Intormaxillarios  longer  than  in 
the  Coregoni,  but  overlapping  tho  articular  end  of  the  labials  less 
than  in  the  Trutta.  Labials,  thin  elliptical  plates,  the  posterior 
piece  lanceolate,  and  as  broad  :8  the  anterior  oua.  Under  jaw  tolera- 
bly strong  and  rounded  at  the  tip. 

"  The  teeth  are  small,  subulate,  pointed ,  and  slightly  curved,  stand- 
ing in  a  single  series  on  the  intormaxillr.i  ios,  in  t  )  rowe^^  on  the  pala- 
tines, and  in  clusters  of  six  or  seven  on  the  vo:  ^r.  The  tongue  is 
smooth,  but  tho  pharyngeal  bones,  and  oartikginous  rakers  of  the 
branchial  arches  are  rough. 

"  Of  tho  gill-covers,  the  preoperculi^m  iids  the  form  of  a  wide  mo- 
derately curved  crescent.  The  suboperculum  is  more  than  hal;  t'v.) 
height  of  the  operculum,  not  exceeding  it  in  length.  Interopcrculum, 
small,  and  acute-angled 

"Tho  dorsal  fin  has  twenty-three  rays,  the  pectorals  fifteen,  the 
vontrals  nine,  tho  anal  thirteen,  and  the  caudal  nineteen. 

"  Although  this  exquisitely  beautiful  and  very  game  fish,  is  not,  as  I 
have  previously  observed,  properly  speaking,  a  native  either  of  the 
United  States  or  the  British  provinces,  being  found  only  in  tho 
northern  part  of  the  uui  :<t^ed  regions  of  British  America,  and  the 
waters  flowing  from  Great  Slave  lake  into  tho  Arctic  ocean,  still,  so 
wonderfully  are  tho  facilities  of  travel  increasing  through  the  West  and 
North,  and  so  great  In  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Anglo-Norman  race  in  all 
matters  conne.  t(vi  with  sporting  and  sportsmanship,  that  it  by  no  means 
appears  to  me  impossible  that,  before  many  years  have  elapsed,  the 
lovers  of  the  angle,  whether  of  English  or  American  birth,  will  be 
found  casting  the  fly  in  the  glass-clear  rapids  of  the  Winter  river, 
and  tho  other  waters  of  those  untamed  regions,  for  the  Arctic  Gray- 
ling, and  the  many  beautiful  species  of  Salmon  that  are  to  be  taken 


184 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


there.  Nor  would  there,  I  believe,  be  much  more  risk  or  hardship 
attending  the  performance  of  such  a  sporting  tour,  by  a  strong  and 
well-found  party,  than  was  incurred,  not  only  without  hesitation,  but 
with  alacrity  and  enthusiasm,  by  the  sporting  gentlemen  who  crossed 
the  Missiasippi,  in  pursuit  of  the  elk  and  buffalo,  at  any  time  antece- 
dent to  the  Black  Hawk  war. 

The  excitement,  the  novelty,  and,  consequently,  the  charm  of  such 
an  expedition,  would  be  indescribable ;  and  as  the  brief  summer  of 
those  regions  is  as  beautiful  as  it  is  brief,  while  the  sportsman  would  De 
brought  into  contact  with  an  entirely  new  race  of  beasts,  birds,  and  fish 
of  chase,  I  can  imagine  nothing  that  would  better  repay  the  risk  and 
enterprise  of  such  an  expedition.      <- ' 

All  the  arrangements  of  such  a  tour  could  be  made  with  greatest 
ease  at  Montreal,  where  every  facility  could  be  afforded  to  the  tourists 
by  the  agents  of  the  fur  companies,  and  where  the  whole  of  the 
necessary  means  are  just  as  well  understood,  and  the  necessary  outfit 
just  as  easily  procured,  as  are  those  for  a  fishing  excursion  into  Hamil- 
ton County,  in  New  York,  or  for  a  Maine  Moose-hunt,  in  Boston. 

The  prairies  of  the  West  have  long  been  explored  as  hunting  grounds, 
by  the  sportsmen  of  the  old  as  well  as  by  the  hunters  and  the  trappers 
of  the  new  world— the  forests  and  deserts  of  Africa  have  afforded 
their  trophies  of  the  savage  trace,  the  central  wilds  of  Abyssinia  have 
surrendered  their  fierce  denizens,  the  forests  of  Ceylon,  and  the  dark 
jungles  of  the  farthest  India,  have  become  familiar  hunting  grounds  to 
the  English  sportsmen  •>  and  I  think  it  is  scarcely  to  be  doubted  that, 
before  many  years  have  elapsed,  the  Swedish  and  Norwegian  rivers 
being  already  overfished,  the  votaries  of  the  rod  and  reel  from  either 
side  of  the  Atlaniic,  will  be  found  whipping  the  yet  virgin  streams  of 
the  far  Northwest. 

Political  reasons,  too,  will  have  their  weight  in  bringing  about  such 
a  consummation ;  for  the  disturbed  state  of  the  continent  is  already 
sufficiently  alarming  to  deter  the  pleasure-seeking  yatcher  from  visiting 
nis  old  haunts  in  the  soft  and  sunny  seas  of  southern  Europe,  while  the 
stormier  seas  of  the  Western  world  offer  him  peace  at  least  and  hos- 
pitality, while  on  these  shores  he  will  find  sport,  whether  he  affect  the 
rifle  or  the  rod,  far  superior  to  what  he  has  been  used  to  enjoy  on  the 


KALMONIDJE 


136 


Eastern  continent.  I  have  heard  of  one  yatch  already  fitting  out  by 
an  enthusiastic  English  sportsman,  with  the  intent  of  visiting  this  very 
season  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  the  bays  of  Gaspe  and  Chaleurs, 
and  the  wild  shores  of  Prince  Edward's  Island ;  and  that  good  sport  to 
his  utmost  wish  may  follow  the  adventurous  owner,  must  be  the  prayer 
of  every  generous  son  of  the  gun  or  angle. 

NoTK  TO  Rbvisbd  Edition. — Since  penning  the  above,  Mr.  Perley,  of  St.  John's, 
to  whom  I  applied  for  information  touching  this  fish,  writes  me  that  a  brother 
rportsman  informs  him  that  he  has  killed  them  abundantly  in  the  Hudson  Bft]f 
waters.    I  thiuk  it  probable  that  they  may  bo  found  in  Labrador. 


/^ 


136 


AMERICAN   FI8HKS. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERTGII. 


SALMONID^ 


THE   AMERICAN    SMELT. 

Osmerua  Viridescena  ;  LeSueur,  DeKay,  Agassiz. 

This  highly-prized  and  delicious  little  fish  does  not  properly  fall 
within  the  angler's  catalogue  of  sporting  fishes,  inasmuch  as  it  is  ques- 
tionable, at  least,  whether  it  is  ever  taken  with  the  hook ;  I  have 
heard  it  positively  asserted  that  it  has  been  captured,  both  with  the  fly 
and  with  its  own  roe,  but  I  consider  the  fact  doubtful,  to  say  no  more 
— the  fish  having  probably  been  confounded  with  the  Atherine  or 
Sand-smelt,  a  small  fish  commonly  known  in  this  country  as  the  Spar- 
ling, and  much  used  as  a  bait  fish.  This  fish,  which  a  good  deal  re- 
sembles the  true  Smelt,  both  in  appearance  and  flavor,  is  of  a  differ- 
ent order  and  family,  being  of  the  order  Acanthopterygiiy  and  family 
Mugilidcc,  bites  freely  and  readily,  and  has  probably,  as  I  observed, 
been  mistaken  by  the  unscientific  angler. 

My  object  in  dwelling  on  this  delicate  little  fish,  is,  firstly,  to  cor- 
rect a  ^  ilgar  error  which  I  find  still  prevalent  with  many  persons,  that 
the  true  Smelt  is  identical  with  the  Salmon  smolt,  and  is,  in  fact, 
the  fry  of  the  Salmon  at  the  commencement  of  his  second  year 

The  absurdity  of  this  is  suflniently  evident  from  the  consideration 
that  the  Salmon  smolt  is  an  imnature  fish,  which  runs  down  the  rivers 
he  inhabits  in  the  spring,  and  returns  in  ths  autumn  a  grilse,  as  has 
been  related  above  ;  whereas  the  Smelt  enters  the  rivers  perfectly  ma- 
ture, and  full  of  spawn,  running  up  for  the  purpose  of  depositing  its 


/      * 


•     V 


/■ 


SALMONIDA. 


137 


ova  so  soon  as,  or  even  before,  the  streams  are  clear  from  ice,  and 
returning  a  spent  fish  in  the  autumn.  It  is  a  sub-genus  of  the  genus 
SeUmo,  true — but  as  distinct  from  it  as  a  Roebuck  from  an  Elk. 

My  second  object  in  devoting  a  page  or  two  to  this  little  fish,  is  to 
call  the  attention  of  scientific  men  to  the  fact  that  there  are,  in  the 
United  States,  two  distinct  species  of  this  fish :  the  Common  Ameri- 
can Smelt,  Osmerus  Viridescens — ^which  differs  from  the  European 
Smelt,  Osmerus  EperlanuSy  in  many  particulars — and  a  much  smaller 
and  more  highly  scented,  as  well  as  highly  flavored,  variety,  which  I 
believe  to  be  identical  of  the  European  fish. 

Some  years  since,  before  I  thought  of  publishing  on  this  subject,  1 
compared  this  smaller  fish  with  the  Eastern  Smelt,  Osmerus  Virides- 
cens, of  Le Sueur,  and,  although  I  have  unfortunately  lost  the  notes 
which  I  made  at  that  time,  and  forgot  the  specific  differences,  except 
that  the  ventral  fin  in  the  smaller  fish  was  considerably  farther  forward 
than  in  the  common  fish,  I  am  certain  of  the  fact  that  there  were 
farther  differences  in  the  number  of  the  fin-rays,  apart  from  the  extra- 
ordinary difference  in  size,  which  could  not  fail  to  strike  the  least  ob- 
servant. 

This  smaller  fish,  so  far  as  I  know  or  have  heard,  is  never  taken  but 
in  the  Passaic  and  Raritan  rivers  ;  and  in  neither  of  these  is  the  large 
Smelt,  common  alike  to  the  Eastern  and  the  Southern  States,  ever 
seen.  I  have  observed  and  examined  many  thousands,  by  bushel  bas- 
kets-full at  a  time,  and  have  never  seen  a  fish  exceeding  seven  or  eight 
inches  in  length  taken  from  the  Passaic,  the  general  run  not  exceed- 
ing six ;  whereas  it  is  notorious  that  the  American  Smelt  is  rarely 
taken  less  than  ten  or  eleven,  and  thence  upward  to  twelve  and  fifteen 
inches. 

Yarrel  states  of  the  European  Smelt,  that  they  are  occasionally 
seen  ten  and  eleven  inches  long,  but  that  this  is  an  unusually  large 
size.  '"  ;  ' 

He  also  describes  their  food,  during  their  residence  in  fresh-water, 
as  consisting  of  small  fish,  with  crustaceous  and  testaceous  animals. 
In  the  Tay  they  are  said  to  feed  principally  upon  the  shrimp ;  anid  I 
have  heard  it  asserted  by  persons  of  integrity,  that  they  have  been 
caught  with  the  same  bait  near  Belleville,  on  the  Passaic. 

It  was  my  full  intention  to  have  instituted  a  full  examination  and 
10 


135 


AMERICAN  FISHES 


comparison  of  these — ^which  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  will  prove  to  bo 
two  distinct  species — this  last  spring  ;  but  unfortunately  I  was  neces- 
sarily absent  from  home  during  the  very  few  days  of  this  season  in 
which  they  were  taken  in  the  Passaic,  and  lost  the  opportunity  of 
doing  so.  The  run  of  them  is  becoming  less  and  less  numerous  every 
successive  season,  and  it  is  to  be  apprehended  that  ere  long  they  will 
cease  to  visit  us  at  all. 

I  will  remark  here  that  the  habit  of  the  European  Smeh  in  England 
is  very  capricious  in  regard  to  the  rivers  which  he  honors  with  his 
presence.  It  is  said  that  in  England  the  Smelt  is  never  taken  between 
Dover  and  Land's  End  ;  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  island  it  is  taken 
from  the  Thames  and  Medway  to  the  Tay,  and  on  the  western,  in  the 
Solway,  and  so  far  south  only  as  the  Mersey  and  the  Dee. 

A  specific  description  of  this  well-known  little  fish  would  be  useless, 
as  I  am  unable  to  furnish  data  of  comparison  between  the  Smelt  of 
the  Raritan  and  Passaic  rivers  in  New  Jersey  and  the  Osvierus  Viri- 
descens. 

Before  proceeding  farther,  I  will  merely  observe  that  I  am  well  as- 
sured that  it  is  generally  believed  these  different  species  of  fish  cannot 
be  taken  with  the  hook,  merely  for  the  reason  that  no  one  has  ever 
attempted  so  to  take  them  ;  at  least,  with  any  bait  at  which  there  was 
the  slightest  probability  of  their  rising. 

I  know  that  the  Shad  and  the  Herring,  contrary  to  all  received 
opinion,  can  be  taken  with  the  fly  ,  and  I  have  had  great  sport  myself 
with  the  latter  fish,  off  the  pier  of  Fort  Diamond  in  the  N.ew  York 
Narrows,  catching  them  with  a  gaudy  peacock-fly,  as  fast  as  I  could 
throw  it  in  and  pull  them  out. 

It  would  by  no  means  surprise  me  to  find,  that,  during  the  time 
when  Smelt  run  up  our  streams,  they  may  be  taken  freely,  either  with 
a  very  small  bright  fly,  or  with  morsels  of  shrimp  or  pellets  of  their 
own  roe,  upon  a  number-twelve  Limerick  Trout-hook,  and  thrown 
like  a  fly,  on  the  surface.*  Should  such  prove  to  be  the  case,  they 
would  afford  very  pretty  light  fishing  at  a  time  when  there  is  no  other 
sport  for  the  angler. 

*  NiTE  TO  Revised  Edition. — On  this  p«jiiit,  see  Supplement.     Art.  American 
Smelt  .,    ,     I      ;   ;    f;  -/  ■ 

:  -'  .    \  -or    ^" 


r, 


8ALM0NID£. 


139 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERYGII 


SAl.MONIDiE. 


THE  CAPELIN, 


Mallotus  Villotus;  Cuvier. 


Of  this  beautiful  little  fish,  which  inhabits  the  northern  seas  only, 
never  coming  farther  south  than  the  shores  of  Nova  Scotia  and  New 
Brunswick,  I  am  unable  to  offer  any  representation  to  my  readers, 
never  having  soen  a  specimen  or  engraving. 

He  is  very  nearly  allied  to  the  Smelts,  from  which  he  differs  princi- 
pally in  the  smallness  of  his  teeth. 

He  is  stated  in  Mr.  Perley's  report  on  the  Fisheries  of  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence,  to  be  "from  four  to  seven  inches  in  length,  the  under 
jaw  longer  than  the  upper,  the  color  of  the  back  greenish,  the  under 
surface  of  the  body  silvery.  Thoy  usually  appear  about  Miscon  and 
in  the  bay  of  Chaleur  early  in  May  ;  but  sometimes  not  until  nearly 
the  end  of  that  month.  The  Cod  fishery  does  not  commence  until 
the  arrival  of  the  Capelin,  which  continues  near  the  shores  until  the 
end  of  July." 

Mr.  Perley  proceeds  to  state  that,  in  consequence  of  the  "  wanton 
destruction  of  the  proper  food  of  the  Cod — Herring  and  Capelin — 
which  are  taken  in  immense  quantities,  not  for  immediate  eating,  or 
for  curing,  or  for  bait,  but  for  manuring  the  ground,"  the  Cod  fishery 
is  utterly  declining,  the  fisheries  going  to  waste,  and  the  establishments 
deserted  and  going  to  ruin. 

"  In  a  representation,"  he  adds,  "  made  to  the  Canadian  Legislature 
by  a  fisherman  of  Gaspc,  it  is  stated  that  this  fisherman  had  seen  five 
hundred  barrels  of  Capelin  taken  in  one  tide  expressly  for  manure  ; 
and  that  he  has  also  seen  one  thousand  barrels  of  Herring  caught  at 
one  time,  and  not  taken  away,  but  left  to  rot  upon  the  beach." 

It  is  in  this  connection  that  I  have  here  enumerated  the  Capelin ; 
for  he  cannot  be  taken  with  the  hook,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  and  there- 
fore is  not  game.     Bui  for  Cod  fishing,  whether  with  the  deep-sea  line. 


140 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


or  the  bultow,  as  it  is  called,  or  set-line,  it  is  invaluable  as  a  bait. 
Whenever  it  can  be  obtained,  no  other  should  be  used. 

It  is  an  exceedingly  excellent  fish,  however,  for  the  table,  possessing 
much  of  the  flavor  with  the  peculiar  cucumber  odor  of  the  Smelt. 

This  wanton  and  stupid  destruction  of  all  kinds  of  game,  whether 
feathered,  finned,  or  furred,  really  appears  to  be  a  distinct  character- 
istic  of  all  the  white  inhabitants  of  America,  wheresoever  they  are  to 
be  found  ;  and  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  ere  long  they  will  most  bit- 
terly regret  the  consequences  of  their  rapacity  and  wasteful  folly. 

In  this  case,  the  wantonness  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  well  as  dis- 
graceful, because,  as  Mr.  Perley  well  remarks,  "  a  bountiful  Provi- 
dence has  ^nished  the  shores  with  inexhaustible  quantities  of  kelp 
and  sea-wccd,  and  other  valuable  manures,  whiih  really  enrich  the 
s  >il  while  it  is  admitted  that  the  use  of  fish  greatly  deteriorates  it. 

"  The  legislature  of  Canada  has  been  strongly  urged  to  make  it  a 
miHdemeanor,  punishable  by  fine  and  imprisonment,  for  any  person  to 
to  use  either  Herring  or  Capelin  as  manure,  and  such  a  measure  would 
seem  to  be  highly  desirable  in  New  Brunswick.  To  be  eflfective,  there 
should  be  similar  regulations  on  both  sides  of  the  bay  of  Chaleur." 

Dioubtless  this  is  all  very  true,  but  unfortunately  the  Legislature  of 
Canada  is  much  too  busy  in  passing  bills  for  the  reward  of  notorious 
murderers  and  rebels,  and  the  opposition  to  the  ministry  much  too 
busy  in  combating  them,  and  striving  to  get  into  office  again,  to  think 
of  anything  that  could  lenefit  the  Province,  or  tend  to  the  good  of 
any  one  except  themselves  and  their  own  immediate  partizans. 

Their  own  bad  passions,  and  factious  partizanship,  and  no  external 
causes  whatsoever,  are  the  bane  and  curse  of  the  Canadas ;  but,  after 
all,  I  suppose,  it  matters  mighty  little  whether  the  legislature  pass 
such  a  law  or  no  ;  for  no  human  being  that  I  ever  heard  of  in  Ame- 
rica, whether  British  or  of  the  United  States,  ever  dreamed  of  obeying 
the  game  law,  except  exactly  in  so  far  as  suited  his  own  convenience. 
So  I  presume  the  doom  of  the  Capelin,  and  ultimately  of  the  Cod,  may 
be  considered  sealed.  ,   , 


\ 


i  \ 


i»ALMONID^. 


141 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERYOII. 


SALMONIDiS. 


THE   WHITE-FISH. 

ATTIHAWMEO 

Cotegonvt  Albu$f  Le  Saenrt  Corier. 


/ 


This  and  the  succeeding  fish  are  the  last  two  of  the  Salmon  family, 
and  the  only  two  of  their  own  peculiar  snh-gcnus  found  within  the 
limits  of  the  United  States  and  British  Provinces,  although  there  are 
several  other  species  in  the  Arctic  regions. 

In  Europe  they  have  several  equivalents  which  are  generally  known 
as  Lavarets ;  of  these  are  the  well-known  British  species,  the  Gwyniad, 
the  Vendace,  and  the  Powau,  of  England  and  Scotland,  and  the 
PoUan  of  Ireland,  all  closely  connected,  and  yet  perfectly  distinct  from 
the  analogous  fish  of  America. 

Here,  unfortunately,  these  fine  fish  have  no  names  at  all,  save  the 
trivial  designations  or  absurd  misnomers  given  to  them  by  the  first  rude 
settlers  of  the  regions  in  which  they  are  found. 

The  fish  of  which  we  are  now  speaking  is  probably  the  most  deli- 
cious of  all  the  purely  fresh-water  varieties — ^for  such  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  it  is,  as  a  table  fish,  for  it  is  not  found  within  the  limits  of 
civilization,  except  in  the  lakes  above  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  which 
preclude  the  possibility  of  communication  with  the  sea.     It  is,  how- 


142 


AMERICAN  FISHES 


ever,  found  in  the  Coppermiuo,  the  Mackenzie,  and  other  rivers  which 
fiill  into  the  Arctic  sea,  and  can  "  probably  live  indifferently,"  as  Dr. 
Richardson  observes,  "  on  fresh  or  salt-water,  like  several  species  of 
Trutta  and  Coregoni,  that  occasionally  wander  to  the  sea,  although 
they  are  not  strictly  anadromous." 

It  is  claimed  by  the  inhabitants  of  that  portion  of  the  State  of  New 
York  that  the  finest  White-Fish  of  the  whole  western  country  arc 
taken  in  Chatauque  lake,  a  small  mountain  tarn  situated  some  hun- 
dred feet  above  Lake  Erie,  and  forming  one  of  the  sources  of  the  Alle- 
ghany river.  I  doubt  not  the  superiority  of  the  '  .;tauque  lake  White- 
Fish  to  the  same  species  taken  in  the  shallow,  muddy,  and  turbulent 
waters  of  Lake  Erie ;  but  I  entirely  disbelieve  in  its  being  able  to 
sustain  comparison  with  that  of  the  clear,  deep,  and  cold  waters  of 
Lake  Huron,  where  it  is  found  of  the  greatest  sizd,  aod  in,  as  I  under- 
stand, the  greatest  perfection. 

''  It  is,"  says  Richardson,  "  a  rich,  fat  fish,  yet  instead  of  producing 
satiety,  it  becomes  daily  more  agreeable  to  the  palate ;  and  I  know 
from  experience,  that  though  deprived  of  bread  and  vegetables,  one 
may  live  wholly  upon  this  fish  for  months,  or  even  years,  without  tiring." 

"  In  October,"  observes  the  same  author,  "  the  Attihawmeg" — this 
is  its  appellation  among  the  Cree  Indians,  and  it  were  most  desirable 
that  in  the  absence  of  any  correct  English  nomenclature  the  aboriginal 
names  could  be  adopted — ^*^  quits  the  lakes,  and  enters  the  rivers  for 
the  purpose  of  spawning.  It  ascends  the  streams  in  the  night-time, 
and  returns  to  the  lake  as  soun  as  it  has  spawned.  Dr.  Todd  informed 
me  that  it  enters  the  Severn  river  from  Lake  Huron  about  the  25th  of 
October,  and  retires  to  the  depths  of  the  lake  again  by  the  10th  of 
November ;  but  that  in  some  rapid  rocky  rivers  of  that  lake,  indivi- 
duals are  taken  throughout  the  year.  A  few  spawn  in  the  summer 
It  is  a  gregarious  fish,  and  resorts  to  different  parts  of  a  lake,  accord- 
ing to  the  season  of  the  year,  its  movements  being  in  all  probability 
regulated  by  its  supply  of  food.  In  winter  the  fisheries  are  generally 
established  in  deep  water,  remote  from  the  shore ;  toward  the  breaking 
up  of  the  ice,  they  are  moved  near  to  the  outlets  of  the  lake  ;  and  in 
the  summer  comparatively  few  Attihawmeg  are  caught,  except  what 
are  speared  in  the, rivers.  After  the  spawning  period,  the  fall  fishery, 
as  it  b  termed,  is  more  productive  in  shallow  bays  and  on  banks  near 


W 


/■ 


SALMOMD^. 


143 


A 


the  shore.  I  was  informed  in  the  far  countries,  that  this  fish  preys  on 
insects,  and  that  it  occasionally  though  rarely  takes  a  hook  baited  with 
a  small  piece  of  meat.  Dr.  Todd  found  fresh-water  shells  and  small 
fishes  in  the  stomachs  of  the  Lake  Huron  Altlhawmeg ;  indeed  shelly 
mollusca — Helix,  Planorbis,  Lymneus,  Paludina,  &c. — appear  to  he 
a  favorite  food  of  several  Trout  and  Corcgoni^  both  in  Europe  and 
America.'' 

The  fact  of  the  Attihawmeg  feeding  on  shell-fish  is  greatly  corroVo- 
ratcd  by  the  circumstance  of  its  dififering  from  all  the  other  known 
Coregoni  in  the  extraordinary  thickness  of  its  stomach,  which  resem- 
bles the  gizzard  of  a  fowl ;  the  same  being  the  case  with  the  Gillaroo 
or  shell-fish-eating  Trout  of  the  Irish  lochs ;  and,  I  have  little  doubt, 
with  the  crab-eating  Trout  of  tho  Marshpee  river  in  this  country. 
1  To  tho  excellence  of  the  White-Fish,  I  can  bear  personal  testimony 
when  on  the  table,  but  I  have  never  had  an  opportunity  of  examining 
it ;  and  I  am  indebted  for  the  description  below,  to  the  Fauna  Boreali- 
Americana,  of  the  author  I  have  already  so  often  quoted. 

I  am  informed  that  this  fish  is  occasionally  taken  by  persons  engaged 
in  trolling  for  the  Lake  Trout,  or  throwing  the  fly  for  the  Black  Bass, 
Gristes  Nigricans^  nor  can  I  at  all  doubt  that  were  his  habits  properly 
observed  and  carefully  studied  by  a  scientific  angler,  judging  from  what 
has  been  stated  above  in  relation  to  his  food,  he  might  be  taken  with 
the  hook  with  as  much  certainty  as  any  other  of  the  lake  fish,  unless, 
perhaps,  the  Black  Bass,  and  he  would  assuredly  show  great  sport  at 
tho  end  of  a  long  line,  being  both  a  powerful  and  active  fish. 

The  average  weight  of  this  fish  appears  to  be  three  or  four  pounda^ 
but  when  very  fat,  it  is  often  taken  up  to  seven  or  eight  •,  and  in  par- 
ticular localities  it  attains  a  much  greater  size,  having  been  caught  in 
Lake  Huron  of  thirteen  or  fourteen,  and  in  Lake  Manito,  it  is  said,  of 
twenty. 

One  of  seven  pounds,  caught  in  Lake  Huron,  measured  twenty-seven 
inches  in  length.  ' 

In  form,  the  Attihawmeg  is  very  deep  in  comparison  to  its  length  ; 
one  of  the  ordinary  siz3,  taken  in  Pino  Island  lake,  measuring  as  five 
to  seventeen,  exclusive  of  the  caudal  fin ;  but  when  very  fat,  its  depth 
is  as  one  to  three. 

The  body  is  compressed,  being  much  less  thick  than  deep.     Tho 


144 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


head  is  narrow  above,  with  a  moderately  wide  frontal  bone,  and  form- 
ing one-fifth  of  the  length,  excluding  the  caudal. 

The  eyos  are  large,  and  situated  a  little  more  than  a  diameter  of 
the  orbit  "rom  the  tip  of  the  snout,  and  nearly  thrice  as  far  from  the 
edge  of  the  gill-plate.  The  nostrils  are  placed  midway  between  the 
orbit  and  the  snout.  The  snout  is  blunt  when  seen  in  front,  but  its 
profile  is  more  acute.  The  mouth  has  a  small  orifice,  but  when  shut, 
its  angles  are  depressed 

The  jaws  and  tongue  are  furnished  with  a  few  teeth,  which  are  too 
minute  to  be  readily  seen  by  the  naked  eye,  and  too  slender  to  be  very 
perceptible  to  the  finger.     The  vomer  and  palate  are  quite  smooth. 

Of  thb  ^ill-covers,  the  prooperculum  is  sharply  curved,  and  rather 
broad  ;  its  width,  in  the  middle,  equalling  the  height  of  tixe  suboper- 
culum  The  operculum  measures  one-third  more  vertically  than  it 
does  horizontally ;  while  on  the  contrary,  the  suboperculum  ?s  twice  as 
long  OS  it  is  high.  The  interoperculum  is  triangular.  The  branchial 
arches  have  each  a  single  row  of  erect  subulate  rakers,  a  quarter  of  an 
inch  long,  and  rough  on  their  inner  surfaces.  The  pharyngeal  bones 
are  inconspicuous  and  toothless. 

The  scales  are  large,  irregularly  orbicular,  and  about  half  an  inch 
in  diameter,  with  a  bright  pearly  lustre. 

Color,  in  the  shade,  bluish  gray  on  the  back,  lighter  on  the  sides, 
and  white  on  the  belly,  giving  place  to  a  nacry  and  iridescent  pearly 
lustre  in  a  full  light.  Cheeks,  opercula,  and  irides,  thickly  covered 
with  nacre. 

«  Fins :  branchiostegous  rays  eight,  dorsal  fifteen,  pectoral  sixteen, 
ventral  eleven,  anal  fifteen,  caudal  nineteen  and  seven-sevenths.  The 
adipose  fin  is  rather  large,  and  situated  opposite  the  termination  of  the 
anal.  The  caudal  is  forked,  and  spreads  widely. 

*It  is,  in  short,  a  very  beautiful  fish,  and  no  less  useful  than  it  ir 
beautiful  and  delicious,  aflFording  the  principal  subsistence  to  several 
Indian  hordes,  and  being  the  main  reliance  of  many  of  the  fur  posts 
for  eight  or  nine  months  of  the  year,  the  supply  of  other  articles  of 
diet  being  scanty  and  casual. 


•  Note  to  Revised  Editio.v. — For  many  further  particulars  concerning  this  no- 
ble fish,  See  Supplement.     Art.  Attihawmeg. 


SALUONIDiC. 


149 


ABDOMINAL 
MAL4C01>TI£RY0II. 


SALMON  m^ 


\ 


THE  OTSEGO  BASS 


OTSEOO   LAVARET. 


/ 


Cortgonu*  Outgo  i  VtKay. — Salmo  Otaego ;  Demit  CVmtnn. 

Through  tho  kindncsB  of  my  esteemed  friend,  Mr.  Cooper,  of 
Coopcrstown,  I  havo  had  an  opportunity,  during  this  present  sprmg, 
of  carefully  examining  and  dissecting  this  exceedingly  beautiful  and 
interesting  fish,  as  well  as  of  testing  its  qualities  on  the  table. 

It  is  very  closely  cognate  to  the  last-mentioned  species,  but  is 
unquestionably  distinct ;  differing  in  size,  form,  in  tho  number  of  fin- 
rays,  slightly  in  tho  gill-covers,  and  so  far  us  I  could  discover  without 
a  microscope,  entirely  in  the  distal  system. 

Although  a  deep  fi«h,  it  is  not  nearly  so  much  so  as  the  Attihaw- 
meg  ;  the  finest  specimen  which  I  inspected  measuring  eighteen  and 
a  half  inches  in  length,  and  ten  inches  in  circumference  at  the  origin 
of  the  dorsal  fin  ;  the  depth  at  the  same  point  was  a  fraction  under 
four  inches,  not  being  much  less  than  a  fifth  of  the  whole  length, 
including  tho  caudal.  Tho  gill-covers  differed  in  form,  in  having  the 
posterior  free  margin  more  curved,  and  less  vertical,  the  operculmu 
less  high  in  proportion  to  its  length,  and  the  suboperculum  more  so 


I 

I 


146 


AMERICAN  I'ISIICfl. 


The  snout  was  sharper  and  longer,  and  tho  lubiul  plates  ahallowor  in 
proportion  to  their  length. 

Tho  branchiostcgous  rays  wcro  eight  on  one  side,  nine  on  tho 
other  ;  tho  dorsal  fin-rays  thirteen,  the  pectoral  seventeen,  the  ventral 
eleven,  the  anal  eleven,  and  tho  caudul  twenty-two 

I  examined  tho  mouth  as  minutely  as  I  eould  without  tho  aid  of 
a  glass,  and  neither  by  my  eye  nor  my  finger  could  I  detect  the  ves- 
tige of  a  tooth  on  tho  maxillarics,  intcrmaxillaries,  tongue,  palate,  or 
vomer,  the  latter  parts  being  of  a  pearly  whiteness,  and  as  smooth  as 
glass. 

The  pharyngeal  bones  were  also  toothless,  but  the  branchial  arches 
were  armed  with  erect  rakers,  precisely  as  described  in  tho  last- 
named  species. 

The  colors  of  this  fish  were  tho  most  beautiful,  lustrous,  and  bril- 
liant, that  I  over  witnessed — the  back,  of  a  rich  iridescent  blue, 
changing  to  greenish  ;  the  sides,  cheeks  and  gill-covers,  glittering  like 
mother-of-pearl,  and  the  belly  sparkling  liko  molten  silver ;  the  fins, 
of  a  bluish  green  ;  the  caudal  very  deeply  forked ;  the  lateral  line 
nearly  straight. 

This  exquisite  and  beautiful  fish,  so  far  as  is  known,  is  found  only 
in  the  Otsego  lake,  the  head  waters  of  the  Susquehanna  river  ;  but  it 
would  be  very  curious  to  compare  it  with  the  so-called  White- Fish  of 
Chatauque  lake,  a  locale  very  similar  to  the  Otsego,  equally  cut  off 
from  communication  with  other  waters,  and  at  about  an  equal  eleva- 
tion above  tide- water.  I  greatly  suspsct  that  the  Coregoni  of  these 
two  mountain  lochs  would  prove  identical. 

The  habits  of  the  Otsego  Lavaret  are  but  little  known.  It  is  gre- 
garious, however,  and  rushes  in  vast  shoals,  early  in  spring,  to 
all  the  shallow  waters  and  shores  of  the  lake,  for  a  few  days,  during 
which  he  is  taken  in  vast  numbers  ;  after  that  time,  he  retires  to  the 
coldest  depths  of  the  lakes,  and  is  seen  no  more  until  autumn,  when 
he  again  makes  his  appearance  for  the  purpose,  it  is  supposed,  of 
spawning,  although  the  period  at  which  the  ova  are  deposited  does 
not  appear  to  be  clearly  ascertained,  nor  whether  the  spawning-beds 
are  in  the  shoal  waters  of  the  lake,  or  at  the  mouth  of  its  feeders. 

It  is  lamentable  to  think,  though  but  too  true,  that  through  the 
wanton  improvidence  of  the  early  settlers,  who  dealt  with  this  delicious 


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lish  much  !i^  tin:'  l\i;\v  Liiunnwickiirs  lo  wtih  the  CapeUii,  litLTiiily. 
i  bttli'jve,  foediug  tliou-  i'.'s^.-i  wi  ''t  tln'iUj  they  iiavi  niread)  vi.<jl<ly 
declined  iii  inaauitudo,  a.-;  \v\-ll  -^  u  •«  ri.'«.So<i  ia  liuuibf.r. 

'(hey  wore  torincriy  taken,  wcii/liiiig  up  ^.  four-  pomids  ;  but  noxr, 
the  h.'ilf  of  that  widghl  is  ro^arl:  d  ;ts  no  t  i.'.j'^iiidly  tiny  /  ,sb  Th*' 
sjn'cimea  whiih  I  have  di^scribod  .ibevt  V-'ighttl  two  pouiids  and 
three  <,un(^es,  and  wim  ;ui  uin:i"»riu>ii>nl7  wtliM'^f  -huA  delicious  H-h. 

VVitli  regard  to  tii.dr  food,  I  can  aaj,  i>uihiug  ii.-fe'''Jtd>  ;  the  stoni- 
acbs  of  tho.sc  which  i  i-xaiuinMd  coniiu;, .  ;  i.!v;K;ijjr  bat  a  blaokirih, 
earthy  substanoc,  whioli  rosoivddod  deeaywj  'tvytrt^M.h'w  tuattcr,  and 
some  i?niall  fVasmcuts  of  worms,  or  hr\ie  of  iiwcfttif, 

I  fdisi'^rvi'd  no  thickeninir  of  the  istoirincli,  u^r  ;iiiy<h(U^  which 
BteineJ  .';.»  indii.uita  their  f.'udin;:;  on  any  «h']i-fi-^h  '■!•  ta'dhi«"«. 

^?;'.  rio-'iper  iufovnis  nio  that  In;  rcc.jilv.c1.>  but  ;;  tdiiic'"  in^lanc**  of 
ono  ■■(  thesei  fiah  being  taT;on  with  a  h'.'dt  Tin'  ily,  hu'wi^vei',  nnjijht 
po->ibij  j»!T..ve  nioro  siicccsstnl. 

Thp  v.u'ify,  escfdlencii,  and  ptfuliarii)  of  tlio  'Jtsogo  Lavarct,  (;!;U- 
i\r-  him  to  a  place,  as  w(dl  as  the  noblo  race  of  which  he  is  a  mendxnv 
th'M'uh  in  Roino  degree  dcstitnfi^  of  the  c;unc  qualities  of  his  order. 
My  p;  Incipjjl   oly-'ict,  however,  in  introducing  him   in  thi.>  place,  AVii-s 


'first. 


1-  f^rcsont  tue  w 


hole  f 


iniijv  uf  Ani;;v:iaii  SahmnidiH  t(>  niv  rcad- 


d'it,  tt*   •  vf(«|dete    as  po'^riibl"  ;  and  8;,coiidly,  to  roelaim  with   all   my 
rrdsjlit  a^uin.'^;  the  absurdity  of  calliiig  tlii.s  tl-h   a  IJass,  of  tiie  family 


f?  .;••-'.*',  lo  wiiich  it  has  a  -ifchcr  rosi^mhlanc  ri^jr  kindred 
'J. h.--,    »J>!»urdifcy,  if  pos^ibli;,  is   rendered  inorfT!  llagran 


tl 


ic  fact 


that  tt<v-. ,  in  yet  aootiicr  fl!*h  as  distinct  tVi>iri  thi:',  a8  po.'jsibl.',  desig- 
uat."'d  <i«<  r«'j'f  t'.h*«.j>go  Bass,  thonirh  it  is  ii;-  Bass  I'ither,  bnt,  a  Cortina,  of 
th»^  -.■.!«%  S'«5»j-i«(cii|6,  prdled  also  the  Lake  irdtecp's-Ifad,  which,  tVoui 
the  S4»«vi*^^;!<4>  «4*  titfe,  ir  frequently  confounded  wiih  thin  ('V/' 
or  L 
for  tin 


t'gonuf 


•*j 


'.•s?,al«i>  with  the  Black  Bass  v>f  the  ^St    Lukm 


p.ce,  w 


!i(;h 


w 


hieh 


i-    not  prop!".'ly  a   Ba.^s,   Grilles  IS'i./rricans,  smd 
■'i:^li  the  similarity  of  names,  confnsei.'   with  the 


Sc.'ti    Biiys, 
Bla«k  Bnii 


A 


i.i>ri''OHs.  wli"  }i  aiao 


umac 


rmgiy 


CM 


!bd 


^!iv„'  actuallv  four  fish  :i,s  difi'erent  oi."  t'l 


;n) 


the  otiicr  «■*  any  f*n»f  '^ksg*'  '•«<%|»'-',  all  blundered  up  togetlier  in  con 
fusion    wi.r^.'  Co^ifniinlmf,  owing'  fr»  ttie  timidity  of  nt»turalis«t*  \ 
tatiiig  to  alter  %  v,mii'hu-r  'irijpn.itin?  in  the  igi:ioranoe    >F  tb. 


4,  ■•*■.! 


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/#. 


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w 


■■■■HA: 


SALMON!  DiE. 


147 


fish  much  as  the  New  Brunswickers  do  with  the  Capelin,  literally, 
I  believe,  feeding  theu'  hogs  with  them,  they  have  already  visibly 
declined  in  magnitude,  as  well  as  decreased  in  number. 

They  were  formerly  taken,  weighing  up  to  four  pounds  ;  but  now, 
the  half  of  that  weight  is  regarded  as  an  unusually  fine  fish  The 
specimen  which  I  have  described  above  weighed  two  pounds  and 
three  ounces,  and  was  an  uncommonly  well-fed  and  delicious  fish. 

With  regard  to  their  food,  I  can  say  nothing  definitely  ;  the  stom- 
achs of  those  which  I  examined  contained  nothing  but  a  blackish, 
earthy  substance,  which  resembled  decayed  vegetable  matter,  and 
some  small  fragments  of  worms,  or  larvae  of  insects. 

I  observed  no  thickening  of  the  stomach,  nor  anything  which 
seemed  to  indicata  their  feeding  on  any  shell-fish  or  molluscae. 

Mr.  Cooper  informs  me  that  he  recollects  but  a  single  instance  of 
one  of  these  fish  being  taken  with  a  brit  The  fly,  however,  might 
possibly  prove  more  successful. 

The  rarity,  excellence,  and  peculiarity  of  the  Otsego  Lavaret,  enti- 
tle him  to  a  place,  as  well  as  the  noble  race  of  which  he  is  a  member, 
though  in  some  degree  destitute  of  the  game  qualities  of  his  order. 
My  principal  object,  however,  in  introducing  him  in  this  place,  was 
first,  to  present  the  whole  family  of  American  Salmonidce  to  my  read- 
ers, as  complete  as  possible  ;  and  secondly,  to  reclaim  with  all  my 
might  against  the  absur<l)ty  of  calliug  this  flsu  a  Bass,  of  the  family 
Percidce,  to  which  '^  has  i  ;.fcher  resemblance  nor  kindred. 

This  absurdity,  it' pop >ibli,  is  rendered  more  flagrant  by  the  fact 
that  there  is  yet  another  fish  as  distinct  from  this  as  possible,  desig- 
nated as  the  Oswpf"^  Bass,  thougb  it  is  no  Bass  either,  but  a  Corvina,  of 
the  family  Scicniru.-,  cilled  also  the  Lake  Sheep's-Head,  which,  from 
the  similarity  of  title,  is  frequently  confjunded  with  this  CorcgonuSy 
or  Lavaret,  and  also  with  the  Black  Bass  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  which, 
for  the  tnird  time,  is  not  properly  a  Bass,  Gristes  Nigricans,  and 
which  is  again,  through  the  similarity  of  names,  confused  with  the 
Sea  Bass,  Ccntropristcs  Nigricans,  who  is  also  blunderingly  called 
Black  Bass.  So  that  we  have  actually  four  fish  as  different  one  from 
the  other  as  any  four  things  can  bo ,.  rll  blundered  up  together  in  con- 
fusion worse  confounded,  owing  to  ihe  timidity  of  naturalists  hesi- 
tating to  alter  a  misnomer  originating  in  the  ignorance  of  those  who 


148 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


were  naturally  ignorant.  The  scientific  name  and  characteristics  of 
this  fish  are  well  established,  as  Coregonua  Otsego,  the  English  of 
which,  being  interpreted,  is  "  the  Otsego  Lavaret."  And  now,  why 
should  not  the  stupid  blunder  of  Bass  be  consigned  to  the  oblivion 
which  it  deserves,  and  the  true  appellation  be  applied  to  the  fish — an 
appellation  which  assigns  to  this,  the  last,  not  least,  of  the  American 
>Sa//wont'rfflp,  a  local  habitation  and  a  name  ? 

At  the  last  moment,  I  quote  from  a  very  clever  writer  under  the 
signature  of  the  "  Naturalist,"  from  the  Spirit  of  the  Times,  confirma- 
tory of  my  opinion  with  regard  to  the  taking  of  this  class  of  fishes  with 
the  fly:  ^^ 

"  Besides  the  Salmon  and  Spotted  Trout,  the  Coregonus  Albus,  or 
White  Fish,  is  abundant  in  the  Chateaugay  lakes.  In  the  latter  part 
of  June  and  early  part  of  July  they  take  the  artificial  fly  freely ;  in 
winter,  they  may  be  often  taken  through  the  ice  with  the  worm.  I 
myself  cauglit  one  of  three  pounds'  weight,  with  a  worm,  Avliile  fishing 
oflF  the  rocky  shore,  (the  shores  of  both  lakes  are  mostly  rocky,)  for  the 
Speckled  Trout." 


B80CIUJB 


149 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERYGII. 


EfiOCWM. 


^'" 


This  family,  the  EsocidcBy  of  which  the  true  Pike,  Esox  Lucms,  of 
Europe,  is  the  type,  is  largely  represented  in  the  waters  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Provinces ;  six  or  seven  distinct  species  having  been 
discovered,  exclusive  of  the  formidable  Garpike,  Esox  Osseus,  of  the 
south-western  waters,  which,  instead  of  scales,  is  cased  in  a  complete 
armor  of  rhomboidal  plates ;  and  which  is  held,  by  Mr.  Agassiz  and 
other  distinguished  naturalists,  to  be  a  connecting  link  between  the 
animals  of  the  present  period  and  those  contemporaneous  with  the 
Saurians,  and  other  extinct  races. 

The  fish  of  this  family  are  distinguished,  generally,  by  the  want  of 
the  second  dorsal  or  adipot  t  fin,  by  the  situation  of  the  dorsal  very  far 
backward  and  opposite  to  tht  anal  fin,  and  by  having  the  border  of  their 
upper  jaw  either  formed  sololy  by  the  intermaxillaries,  or  by  having 
the  labials  destitute  of  teeth,  if  they  enter  at  all  into  its  composition. 
The  mouth  is  always  large,  and  the  teeth  sharp  and  powerful,  but  the 
shape  and  proportionul  length  of  the  jaws  vary  greatly  in  the  various 
species,  as  do  the  situation  and  number  of  the  teeth,  and  the  formation 
of  the  gill-cov'irs ;  and  by  these  particulars  are  the  species  distin- 
guished. 

The  principal  of  these  various  species,  are — 

The  Mascalonge,  Masqucallonge,  Esox  Estor,  of  the  gre;it  lakes ; 

The  Northern  Pickerel,  Esox  Lucioides^  of  the  same  waters; 

The  Common  Pickerel,  Esox  Reticulatus^  of  all  the  ponds  and 
streams  of  the  northern  and  midland  States. 

The  Long  Island  Pickerel,  Esox  Fasciaius,  probably  peculiar 
to  Long  Island,  formerly  Nassau  Island,  on  the  southern  coast  of 
New  iTork. 

The  White  Pickerel,  Esox  Vittatus,  of  the  Ohio,  the  Wabash, 
and  others  of  the  western  waters. 

And  the  Elack  Pickerel.  Esox  Niger,  of  Pennsylvania. 

Of  all  these  species,  the  first  two  form  the  type,  all  the  others  fol- 


150 


>  \ 


AMERICAN    FI»HES 


lowing  the  formation  of  the  head,  which  is  remarked  in  one  or  other 
of  these,  as  regards  the  comparative  length  of  the  snout,  the  formation 
of  the  lower  jaw,  the  dental  system,  and  the  gill-covers.  So  marked 
is  this  difference,  that  in  addition  to  the  wood-cuts  of  the  entire  fishes, 
I  have  thought  it  well  to  give  large  representations  of  the  heads  of 
these  two  noble  fish ;  and  by  examining  these  with  a  little  care,  and 
comparing  them  with  the  heads  of  any  of  the  smaller  varieties,  it  will 
be  easy  to  distinguish  to  which  type  any  one  of  them  belong. 

Thus,  any  person  will  at  once  perceive  that  the  Common  Pickerel, 
in  the  comparative  length  of  the  jaws,  and  the  beak-like  form  and 
scanty  dentition  of  the  lower  mandible,  follows  the  type  of  the  Masoa- 
longe ;  while  the  Long  Island  species  resembles,  in  the  short  obtuse 
snout,  and  extension  of  the  teeth  to  the  tip  of  tht-  lower  jaw,  the  North- 
ern Pickerel. 

The  same  thing  will  be  found  to  be  the  case  with  all  the  other  sub- 
species, although  th';  differences  between  them  are  so  trifling,  and  so 
purely  technical,  while  their  general  resemblance  is  so  great,  and  their 
habits  so  entirely  similar,  rendering  it  impossible  to  mistake  them  for 
fish  of  uny  other  family,  that  I  have  deemed  it  superfluous  to  multiply 
examples,  or  to  give  specific  descriptions  of  more  than  the  first  four 
spe  ^ies ;  contenting  myself  with  enumerating  the  others,  and  indica- 
ting the  localities  in  which  they  are  to  be  found,  which  will  be  alto- 
gether sufficient,  in  order  to  prevent  confusion. 


Note  to  Revised  Edition. — Another  species  of  this  voracious  fish,  Eaox  Phale- 
retua,  is  laid  down  in  some  books,  but  it  does  not  seem  that  any  of  the  three,  Niger, 
Vittatus,  or  Phaleratus,  are  very  clearly  made  out  as  permanent  and  distinct  va- 
rieties. Their  habits,  haunts,  and  manner  of  feeding  are  all  nearly  identical ;  and 
until  a  more  complete  search  of  the  western  and  southern  waters  has  been  made,  it 
is  uselesi  t<  atte  r ;r<t  goir>v  into  minutiaa  of  this  kind.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  as  stated 
by  Richar.i^n,  that  no  Pike  ci  Pickerel  has  ever  been  taken  in  waters  west  of  tho 
Rocky  I'liountains. 


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161 


AlALACOlTCIU'Cn. 


i:sc)Cii)it:. 


THE  JSr  ASCAT.ONGE. 

Masqufitlionge  ;  CnnR<]mn  French. —  fi^'-.i  Kutnr;  «/uvier,  Ag.issiz. 

■ , '  >* 

This  »ri!if<:nifio:  nt  fisK,  whu  «  is  tin-.  i\h-  >',  •  ,:  :4i  iitui  iwo»>t  cxct'lltnit 
fooilof.ill  tlie  Piko  fuiuily,  is  toiiiid  only  ii<  tho  jc,'>itt  Uk.'^f  JUifi  VJat'.rs 
of'  tho  St.  Liuvnrio'^  bai^in.  not  having  Im  •■»)  dii<«'ov(r"(|  Im  any  uf  t'!(.: 
rivors  or  UikiS  mIjicU  f^isv'har!.:i'  tliem«!.>Ivos  into  Huvisou's  Bay  or  thi; 
I'dhir  Si-a,  urti-  yvt,  su  far  us  I  have  be^'.n  abli;  ii>  uncorimn,  in  any  of 
tiie  pmallor  lakes  of  Uie  Uuitoi)  States  whioh  ahe<l  th^ir  vntten-  ii  ^rfh- 
erlv  intd  i\u!  St.  LawTcm;'.  It  '^  -^tatod  that  ''  in  tli.-  ."spring,  A-'hkU  is 
its  (<i>;i>viiin^  s','a.«''>n,  it  frcquonttj  liu'  .small  rivors  that  fall  into  Lake 
Siuji.ioi;'" — which  Hl^charges  U,-<.'lf  by  thu  iSfn-Tuu  intu  Lako  Huron — 
and  that  it  foed.s  on  finiall,  goliitinou^,  gre?n  bulls,  -ivhiiii  fvow  on  the 
Hidt^s  of  lanlc!''  tmdar  water,  and  on  small  tishe-i." 

Thi.s  great  Pike  i.s  said,  by  Dr.  Ri'-hurdson,  to  attain  \\i:  fl'  if^ht  til" 
tnonty-cML'Ut  pounds,  but  it  um^uestionably  grow^!  to  a  very  nnich  lar^'or 
tiize,  though  [  cannot  state,  with  precision,  Hio  greatest  diincnsions  tliat 
he  has  beou  known  to  acqiiinv  i)Y.  DeKay  wiys  that  lie  ha.s  been 
known  to  exioed  four  u-'t  in  h;ugth,  whieh,  1  -jviug  in  view  the  breadth 
arid  depth  of  tbi,-.  fi.sli  when  in  eondition,  svoald  yivf  h  proliable  weight 
•■'''  jiixty  or  oiglity  pound'^:,  wbicli  I  i)'.'liivc  to  approach  las  ni:i?,-imum. 
Hfe  H*  *  bold  and  ini;st  voraeioas  fi«ij. 

Th'  ffni  *C(*-'nupaivyin£i:  thi-i  papiM',  and  the  following  de.S'-viption, 
are  V  »k)'n  fr<»6'  a  .spticiuieu  preserved  in  ?])ii  its,  in  the  poshessu)n  of 
Proft:s»>  '^''M^*,  at"  Harvard  Univorsitr,  vsiiicb  measured  about  two 
feet  awl  '>  ?rtl"  ..•.  Vi^^^'b;  and  wcnghed  eliibtoen  pound.«. 

TliR  !or}p;th  *f  l^v<-  t«i-!*»i  ii'  that  of  tlic  whole  bod\  w-i>  a,s  twc  -to  nine. 

The  Rn'^tit,  friflc  u;«-  wtn*  «f  the  eve.  forward,  siiiaiukvlv  cli  r;<:at<»d 
and  acnt..'.  'f  h-  iitteriur  ei%!>  M'  tb^n  orbit,  midway  bctwc:'n  th--  tip 
of  the  snout  an  1  the  po.HU-rior  margin  of  'be  ihx:  irill-eover.  'J  It:'  bor- 
der of  the  upper  y.\vf  is  fir'W.'d  of  tlie  maxiliari  ■»  ulon  ■,  th.'  etijj-.eis  af 


'    .-    .     W*.  '    ■    "■"Xt-'^'        'a...'-.        ':'•■•*'.•    ■-     ■    T,.  ■■?  •  1:  ■',' 


['■       r       ■■        ..     ,.     \  -•^^*''.s-**''.'   .-..  .   ■    .--Jij..       ■•(•7    S3?..         -^ 


*»%»v 


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161 


/ 


ADOOMINAri 
MALACUPTERYOn. 


EBOCID^. 


THE  MA8CAL0NGE. 

Ma$qunallonKi  ;  ('nuadian  French. — Eaox  E$tor;  Cuvier,  Agufisz. 

This  inagnifli;  *t«h,  which  is  tLe  finest,  largest,  and  most  cxcolluut 
food  of  all  the  !'•  ily,  is  found  only  in  the  great  lakes  and  waters 

of  the  St.  Jiawrcnoo  basin,  not  having  been  discovered  in  any  of  tho 
rivers  or  lakes  which  discharge  themselves  into  Hudson's  Bay  or  thu 
Polar  Sea,  nor  yet,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  in  any  of 
tho  smaller  lakes  of  tho  United  States  which  shed  their  waters  north- 
erly into  tho  St.  Lawrence.  It  ia  stated  that  "  in  the  spring,  which  is 
its  spawning  season,  it  frequents  the  small  rivers  that  fall  into  Lake 
Simcoe" — which  discliarges  itself  by  tho  Severn  into  Lake  Huron — 
and  that  it  feeds  on  small,  gelatinous,  green  balls,  which  grow  on  the 
sides  of  banks  under  water,  and  on  small  fishes." 

This  great  Pike  is  said,  by  Dr.  Richardson,  to  attain  the  weight  of 
twenty-eight  pounds,  but  it  unquestionably  grows  to  a  very  much  larger 
size,  thougli  I  cannot  state,  with  precision,  the  greatest  dimensions  that 
he  has  been  known  to  acquire.  Dr.  DcKay  says  that  he  has  been 
known  to  exceed  four  feet  in  length,  which,  having  in  view  the  breadth 
and  depth  of  this  fish  when  in  condition,  would  give  a  probable  weight 
of  sixty  or  eighty  pounds,  which  I  believe  to  approach  his  maximum. 
He  is  a  bold  and  most  voracious  fish. 

The  cut  accompanying  this  papar,  and  the  following  description, 
are  taken  from  a  specimen  preserved  in  spirits,  in  the  possession  of 
Professor  Agassiz,  of  Harvard  University,  which  measured  about  two 
feet  and  a  half  in  length,  and  weighed  eighteen  pounds. 

Tho  length  of  the  head  to  that  of  tho  whole  body  was  as  two  to  nine. 

The  snout,  from  the  orbit  of  the  eye  forward,  singularly  elongated 
and  acute,  Tho  anterior  edge  of  the  orbit,  midway  between  tho  tip 
of  the  snout  and  tho  posterior  margin  of  the  free  gill-cover.  Tin  bor- 
der of  the  upper  jaw  is  formed  of  the  maxillari^s  alon3,  the  edges  of 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
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152 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


which  are  furnbhed  with  several  rows  of  long,  powerful,  and  exceed- 
ingly sharp,  awl-shaped  teeth,  the  points  curving  slightly  forward. 
The  vomer  and  palatine  bones  are  covered  with  card-like  clumps  of 
spiny  teeth,  as  are  the  base  of  the  tongue,  and  the  pharyngeal  bones. 
The  tongue  itself  is  soft.         . 

The  lower  jaw  is  considerably  longer  than  the  upper ;  it  is  armed 
for  something  less  than  half  its  length  with  very  powerful  recurved 
fangs,  the  two  largest  being  in  front,  a  little  posterior  to  the  tip  of  the 
tongue.  Beyond  these,  the  lower  jaw  is  toothless,  curved  upwards, 
with  sharp,  horny,  beak-like  edges ;  and  in  these  points,  particularly, 
is  it  distinct  from  the  following  species. 

Of  the  gill-covers,  the  preoperculum  is  nearly  vertical,  and  but 
slightly  curved,  the  operculum  much  higher  than  it  is  broad,  and 
nearly  four  times  as  high  as  the  suboperculum,  which  is  slightly  round- 
ed posteriorly.    The  branchiostegous  rays  are  eighteen  in  number. 

The  body  and  head  are  quadrangular,  flattened  above,  and  much 
compressed  at  the  sides.  The  dorsal  fin  is  directly  above  the  anal, 
the  caudal  powerful  and  deeply  forked. 

The  fins,  according  to  Professor  Agassiz'  singularly  precise  mode  of 
enumeration,  contain — the  dorsal,  twenty-two  fin  rays ;  anal,  twenty ; 
ventral,  thirteen ;  pectoral,  eighteen.  The  main  part  of  the  caudal 
fin  is  divided  into  two  somewhat  unequal  lobes,  containing,  the  upper, 
nine ;  the  under,  eight  fin-rays ;  while  above  and  below  the  two  larger 
lateral  rays  there  are  nine  smaller  rays. 

In  color,  it  differs  from  the  Northern  Pickerel  in  having  the  general 
tint  of  the  body  lighter  than  the  markings.  The  back  and  upper  part 
of  the  sides  arc  dark,  changing  from  greenish  blue  to  bluish  gray,  on 
the  sides,  which  are  irregularly  dashed  with  darker  spots  and  splashes. 
When  exposed  to  a  strong  light,  every  scale  reflects  bright  colors, 
which  vary  as  the  fish  is  moved ;  but  there  is  no  fixed  pale  mark  on 
the  tip  of  the  scales,  as  in  the  succeeding  species. 

The  Mascalonge,  which  owes  its  name  to  the  formation  of  the  head 
— masque  allonghy  long  face  or  snout,  Canadian  French— -but  which 
has  been  translated  from  dialect  to  dialect,  maskinonge,  muscalunge, 
and  muscalinga,  until  every  trace  of  true  derivation  has  been  lost,  is 
said  to  bo  much  more  common  in  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario  than  in  the 
more  northern  waters  of  Canada ;  but  this  will,  I  fancy,  prove  to  bo 


/       i 


ESOCIDiG. 


isa 


\- 


erroneous,  as  I  know  them  to  be  taken  of  great  size,  and  remarkable 
excellence,  in  Lake  Huron. 

It  is  the  boldest,  fiercest,  and  most  voracious  of  fresh-water  fish;  and 
there  is  none,  unless  it  be  the  Great  Lake  Trout,  that  can  offer  any 
adequate  resistance  to  his  attacks.  It  is  said  that  even  the  spiny  dor- 
sals of  the  Percidce  do  not  protect  them  from  his  ravenous  attacks. 

He  bites  daringly  at  a  dead  bait  played  with  spinning-tackle,  or 
even  with  a  simple  gorge  and  troUing-hooks.  He  is,  moreover,  readily 
taken  with  that  murderous  instrument,  the  spoon,  or  even  by  a  bait 
of  tin  or  red  cloth,  made  to  play  quickly  through  the  water. 

Before  passing  to  the  next  species,  I  cannot  but  pause  to  notice  a 
strange  error  of  nomenclature,  in  Mr.  Brown's  comprehensive  little 
volume,  "The  American  Angler's  manual,"  to  which  I  have  alluded 
before,  by  which  he  transforms  the  term  UsoXy  the  specific  name  of 
every  member  of  the  Pike  family,  as  assigned  by  Linnaeus,  into  the 
Essex,  which  he  appears  to  conceive  a  distinctive  term  peculiar  to  the 
Mascalonge,  which  he  calls  "  the  Essex  or  Muscalinga  of  our  western 
lakes."  I  note  this  error,  not  from  any  desire  to  underrate  a  useful 
and  valuable  little  book,  but  merely  to  guard  against  its  adoption  by 
anglers  in  general. 


Note  to  Revised  Edition. — The  Mascalonge  is,  as  I  presumed  above,  and  have 
vended  by  personal  observation,  vastly  more  abundant,  and  infinitely  larger,  and  in 
all  respects  superior  in  Lake  Huron  to  those  in  the  lakes  below ;  indeed  the  superi- 
ority of  all  kinds  of  fish  in  those  cold,  pure,  deep  waters,  improving  the  farther  you 
go  northward,  to  those  in  the  muddy  shallows  of  Lake  Erie,  cannot  be  believed  until 
it  is  learned  by  experience. 


11 


154 


1 

AM2RICAN  FISHER 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOFTERY6II. 


ESOCIbiE. 


GREAT  NORTHERN  PICKEREL. 

Etox  Lueioidet;  Aganiz. 

This  great  Pike,  like  the  last,  is  peculiar  to  the  basin  of  the  St 
Lawrence,  and  was  first  clearly  described  and  specified  during  the 
scientific  tour  to  Lake  Superior,  which  I  have  already  mentioned,  by 
Prof.  Agassiz,  who  pointed  out  its  distinctions,  both  from  the  European 
Pike,  and  the  Mascalonge,  to  the  former  of  which,  Esoz  Lucius^  it  is 
by  far  the  most  closely  allied,  although  it  appears  to  have  been  con- 
founded with  both — Le  Sueur y  who  first  gave  a  distinct  specific  name 
to  the  Mascalonge,  having  described  it  as  the  fish  now  under  consid- 
eration, Esoz  LucioideSy  and  not  at  all  as  Esox  Estor. 

The  Northern  Pickerel  is  taken  up  to  the  weight  of  sixteen  or 
seventeen  pounds,  but  rarely,  I  believe,  exceeds  that  weight.  It  is  an 
exceedingly  handsome  fish,  longer  and  slighter,  in  proportion  to  its 
depth,  than  the  Mascalonge. 

Its  body  is  four-sided,  the  back  broader  and  fiatter  than  the  belly ; 
the  vertical  diameter  is  equal  to  about  one-seventh  of  the  body,  caudal 
included ;  the  transverse  diameter  is  two-thirds  of  the  vertical ;  the 
body  carries  its  thickness  to  the  dorsal  fin,  and  then  tapers  into  the 
thin  tail ;  the  sides  are  compressed  and  flattened ;  the  head  is  about 
one-fifth  the  length  of  the  body ;  the  snout  not  nearly  so  long,  and 
much  more  obtuse,  than  in  the  Mascalonge ;  the  under  jaw  does  not 
exceed  the  upper  in  length  nearly  so  much  as  in  that  fish,  and  is 
armed  around  all  the  f^re  part  with  a  single  row  of  small,  slightly- 
hooked  teeth ;  on  the  sides  of  the  lower  jaw  are  a  row  of  larger  awl- 
shaped  teeth,  implanted  in  the  bone ;  the  palate  bones,  vomer,  and 
pharyngeal  arches,  are  all  armed  with  bands  of  small  sharp  teeth,  like 
carding  machines,  as  In  the  former  species ;  the  tongue  is  broad,  and 
truncated  at  the  tip. 

The  gill-covers  are  n'^arly  as  they  are  described  in  the  Mascalonge, 


•t 


'•,.. 


':«,•.'< 


Esinj:   Luri'/idr.i ;     k{ra»,niz.  '»> 

■ii*gi*eat  FJkfi,  like 'tin;  hist,  is  peculiar  to  tlio  hn^'m  of  thi^  St 
r,'i,*rrt-.fic;f,  >iti<l  was.  first  oliarly  destwibt'd  ;i!iil  f^pijoifiod  tluniig  the 
'>!!iciitific  tour  to  l',!il<c  Sufiiritir,  vhi^'li  '  luvvo  nlready  mpiitidiiod,  by 
Prof.  Agassiz,  mIio  poinfid  cm  itn  ui.stinclidiiHi,  both  from  the  Eui  opi\an 
i'iko,  Jind  tlio  ^.lasei^l^.l>^.■.,  fnthe  Onrnor  of  whi<  h,  I^soj:  Lucius^  it  is 
by  iUr  i]f''  lao.st  clos.iy  alliirl,  iiUho'igh  it  nppcars  to  have  boon  con- 
fomuled  witlj  both — L-<'.  Sk^ii'-^  who  first  ifavf-  u  dipilnct  epooifii'  nmao 
to  the  INfascabuigi.'.,  having  doscribtid  it  »»  ihs  lish  now  mxloi-  consid- 
•Mutioti,  Esox  LiLcio'idn^  aii.i  s/ot  Ht  all  iw  /.'.wr  Es(vr. 

Tilt"  Nortb.'rji  Piok«rel  is  takon  up  i<>  ib*'  ^ Uf^bi  of  sixtocn  or 
svn'ontf-ei*  poiivids,  but  raroly,  I  bolii-ve,  nxtfetwln  tha'  welcht.  1?  is  uvi 
oxt'ocdiusl^  bs-ttdKuaioJivli,  long-n*  ami  •'li^^lite.r,  id  jjfop^vH'jin  to  ii.s 
di'pih,  than  th^  Ma.s:.,-i!.v.nijje, 

]t.s  body  i;^  fo'i"-8itbvi,  Hiin  back  bvoadei-  Mn.l  fiatter  <bori  :!u'  bviiv  ; 
tb»?  vertical  diatiJCtcr.ij^  (?<pial  to  ab^Htt  otjp-»i'it'."ith  of  the  bod-y,  ojt  itial 
(V','U»dod  ;  lh<  ti.insvorse  diameter  i;s  two-tbird«  i.f  llje  y.:rtlt^i?l  ,  the 
h-vi\  (jarrier'  its  tbioknoss  lu  tlio  dorsal  tjii,  and  thon  (;vpi>r,^(  iuto  the 
Mull  tail ;  tbo  aidop  nve  ooii)prc8g«d  a»  1  fiitkinod  ;  tb<^  bfiad  u  about 
on  r-finh  thf!  bn'ith  .;.f  \\\o  body ;  rho  enont  not  iif  udy  so  lonu.  and 
iHtocb  Juor«  obu>ft,»,  tban  in  tbo  Mi»>jci»b>nfl^e  i  tbo  under  jaw  docs  not 
t'xe^p<ii  fbfv  Hppt-'  in  tmgth  n<mr!y  sio  njufh  ;h  in  that  fish,  arid  is 
'  ':1^  ♦?>!■'  fort;  p:rt  wl.th  ft  single  row  of  small,  sliv'btly- 
'  T  lyb'M  of  ihv>  Hm<tr  jaw  aro  a  row  of  lar^ur  a-wl- 
■  d  in  tlicj  fejHn"; .  th'}  palato  bonos,  vom-T,  nnd 
i  rtrmod  with  bands  of  small  sharp  t;'oth,  like 
former  spocios ;  the  tongue  is  broad,  and 


bo'»h  '        • 

shap'.MJ   f  •    ■.         .  ' 

pbarynjiofal  »<■<'<■ 

<?arding  niachith'y*.,  i' 

truncated  at  the  t;  .  - 

The  gill-i.'ovors  :.t«,  »!?wyi)  *»  tbcy  are  described  hi  tbo.  ^^ascalonge, 


f 


BSOCIDA. 


156 


except  that  tho  edge  of  the  suboperculum  is  straighter  and  more 
vertical,  and  that  tho  opercula  are  in  a  slight  degree  scaly. 

The  gill-openings  are  very  large ;  and  the  branchiostegous  rays  are 
fiftQen  in  number,  or  more  numerous  by  two  than  in  the  English  Pike, 
which  differs  from  the  Northern  Pickerel  moreover  in  the  number  of 
all  the  fin-rays,  in  having  the  cheeks  and  opercula  covered  with  regular 
scales,  as  in  the  Esox  Reticulaius,  and  in  the  teeth  on  its  vomer  and 
palatine  being  dispersed  into  lines,  rather  than  plantad  in  serried 
patches. 

The  Northern  Pickerel  has  dorsal  fin-rays,  twenty-one ;  anal,  eigh- 
teen ;  caudal,  seven  above  and  seven  below  the  larger  lateral  rays  ;  the 
whole  caudal  divided  into  two  unequal  lobes,  the  upper  of  nine,  the 
lower  of  eight  rays ;  the  ventral  eleven,  and  the  anal  sixteen. 

The  back  of  this  beautiful  fish  is  of  a  rich  blackish  green,  which 
changes  on  the  sides  to  greenish  gray ;  there  is  a  bright  speck  on  the 
tip  of  each  scale,  which  gives  a  singularly  light  and  sparkling  aspect 
to  the  whole  fish.  The  belly  is  of  a  lustrous  pearly  white.  There 
are  several  rows  of  oblong,  diamond-shaped,  yellowish  gray  spots  on 
the  sides  of  the  head,  body  and  tail.  The  cheeks  are  varied  with 
emerald  green  reflections,  the  under  jaw  and  gill-rays  white  ;  the 
irides  purple,  with  a  golden  band  around  the  pupil ;  the  dorsal  and 
caudal  fins  are  blackish  green,  marked  with  patchy  bands  of  a  darker 
oil  green ;  the  anal  greenish  gray,  with  orange  margins,  and  a  few 
dark  spots ;  the  ventrals  the  same,  with  orange  tips,  but  without  spots ; 
the  pectorals  dusky  yellow. 

The  Northern  Pickerel  is  equal  in  bold  less  and  voracity  to  the 
Mascalonge,  and  to  the  northern  European  \  ike,  from  which  he  differs 
in  the  fin-rays,  dental  system,  gill-covers,  and  very  essentially  in  the 
coloring — tho  Pike  being  banded  or  mottled,  and  having  no  indication 
whatever  of  the  regular  rhomboidal  spots  which  mark  the  sides,  and 
form  a  characteristic  of  the  Northern  Pickerel. 

He  takes  any  sort  of  bait  in  spinning  or  trolling,  and  being  readily 
captured  by  set  baits  through  the  ice,  forms  a  very  essential  article  of 
food  to  the  Indian  hunter  when  the  chase  fails  him.  No  animal  food 
of  any  kind  comes  amiss  to  this  fresh-water  tyrant.  Fish  of  every 
variety,  even  his  own  species,  and  the  spiny  Pearch,  the  immature 
young  of  wild  fowl,  rats,  reptiles  of  all  sorts — in  short,  every  living 


\* 


156 


AMERICAN  FISHSS. 


thing  that  oomos  within  his  reach,  minbters  instantly  to  his  voracious 
appetite. 

But  the  baits  by  which  he  is  most  sportingly  secured  are  the  small 
oright  Uucisci,  or  shiners,  at  the  end  of  a  double  swivel  trace,  or  a 
live  frog,  which  he  can  rarely  refuse.  / 

NoTB  TO  Revised  Edition. — I  have  recently  been  informed  by  a  correepondent, 
that  thw  fiih,  or  the  Maecalonge,  it  taken  in  the  Connecticut,  near  Bellow'a  Falli. 
That  he  himielf  haa  captured  it,  and  ia  aaaured  of  ita  being  wholly  diitinct  from  the 
common  Pickerel,  with  which  he  aaaerta  himaelf  to  be,atid  of  courae  ia,  converaant. 
He  alao  adds,  that  it  haa  only  been  known  in  thoae  waters  within  a  limited  number 
of  yeara ;  and  that  it  ia  the  popular  belief  that  it  waa  introduced  i  jto  the  Connecti- 
cut by  the  breaking  out  of  a  new  outlet  ftom  aome  mountain  lake.  If  thia  be  ao,  it 
ia  a  atrange  fact,  aa  thia  fiah  waa  only  diatinguiahed  aa  belonging  to  the  great  lakea, 
laat  year,  1848,  by  Profesaor  Agaaaiz,  who  conaidera  it  peculiar  to  them  ;  and  the 
Maacalonge  haa  been  hitherto  distinctly  limited  to  the  St.  Lawrence  basiu.  This 
fish  wii9  considered  by  Richardson,  aa  identical  with  the  English  Pike,  Eaox  Lu- 
etut,  which  it  ia  not,  though  nearly  allied  to  't,  whence  ita  name,  Lueioides 


CSOOIDiS. 


167 


ABDOXIINAL 
MALACOPTERTOIL 


ESOCID^. 


V.:,.  -T'-rS-  -^3»*^'^P5^w- 


/""' 


THE  COMMON  PICKEREL. 

Eaox  Retieulattu;  Le  Snear. 

Throughout  the  United  States,  excepting  only  the  extreme  west- 
ern and  southern  waters,  thb  is  perhaps  the  commonest  of  all  game 
fishes  ;  from  New  England  to  the  western  limits  of  Pennsylvania,  not 
a  river,  pond,  or  streamlet  but  abounds  with  this  bold  and  rapacious 
fish ;  and  it  is  probable  that,  like  many  other  of  the  northern  fish,  he 
is  found  in  the  waters  of  the  hill  districts  of  Virginia,  Carolina,  and 
even  of  the  Western  States,  although  in  such  locations  he  is  lost  sight 
of  among  the  tribes  peculiar  to  those  regions. 

With  regard  to  the  Southern  States,  especially,  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible to  arrive  at  anything  liko  certainty  concerning  the  species  or 
varieties  of  game  fish  to  be  found  within  their  limits,  from  the  univer- 
sal misapplication  of  names,  and  the  unhappy  tendency  of  sportsmen, 
to  which  I  have  already  made  allusion,  to  adopt  any  barbarous  local 
misnomer,  rather  than  to  make  themselves  acquainted  with  the  true 
specific  names,  and  to  learn  the  distinctions,  so  as  to  speak  imder- 
standingly  of  the  game  which  they  take. 

It  is  indeed  a  hopeless  task  to  hunt  up  the  real  peculiarities  anu 


lAtt 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


true  giiiicra  »f  fish,  known  in  tlicir  own  regions  us  tho  "  Wclohman/^ 
tbo  **  Pom|miio,"  and  such  other  denoiuiuations,  which  of  course  are 
not  to  bu  found  iu  any  work  of  natural  history,  while  the  people,  who 
aro  in  the  habit  of  taking  them  daily,  can  give  you  no  information, 
nor  indued  data,  on  which  to  found  an  opinion,  except  that  they  aro 
*'  vory  like  a  whale,"  or  a  Trout,  as  it  may  be.  I  mention  this  hero 
tn  pauanly  bocauso  I  am  perfectly  prepared  to  find  myself  violently 
aNMiiilitd,  and  pronounced  utterly  incompetent  to  prepare  a  book  of 
thiit  nature,  booau«o  I  have  not  included  "  that  delicious  fish,  the  pride 
of  our  HOttthum  waters,  well  known  to  the  real  sportsman,  tho  noble 
'  Pompano/  or  the  unrivalled  '  Welchman,'  as  it  may  bo,  in  my  list 
of  gumo  fi»ho>."  But  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  peaceful  submis- 
sion, deeming  it  quite  enough  to  have  investigated  the  identity  of  what 
it  aniUNeM  itouthcm  gentlemen  to  call  "  Trout,"  and  Western  New 
Yorkeri  "Daw"  and  "  Sheep's-Head,"  without  troubling  my  head 
about  more  provincial  barbarisms.  I  believe  tho  "  Pompano  "  to  be 
ot  the  Mookorcl  family,  and  tho  "  Welohman,"  which  is  described  as 
a  bold  biter  at  small  fish,  worms,  and  the  like,  to  be  a  porcoid  fish, 
anulogouM  to  Hock-Bass,  Centrarchus  ^neus,  or  perhaps  a  Corvina, 
analogous  to  tho  Malashegane,  or  Sheep's-Head  of  the  lakes. 

Tho  Common  Pickerel — to  return  to  my  subject — does  not  in  gene- 
ral exceed  ftvo  pounds,  and  in  most  districts  this  is  considerably  above 
bi«  average,  which  docs  not,  I  think,  go  beyond  two  and  a  half  or 
tbroo  pounds,  but  they  are  occasionally  taken  in  the  smaller  lakes, 
and  in  Momo  few  of  the  more  sluggish  streams,  of  infinitely  larger 
•izo,  oven  so  far,  it  is  said,  as  to  twelve  and  fifteen  pounds'  weight ; 
but  such  iostanocs  are  rare,  even  if  they  can  be  relied  upon  as  facts 
— which  1  am  somewhat  inclined  to  doubt,  thinking  that  they  have 
probably  been  mistaken  for  some  other  cognate  species. 

In  tho  year  1838, 1  myself  took  a  Pickerel  which  weighed  fifteen 
pounds  three  ounces,  under  Stillwater  bridge,  on  the  Hudson  river, 
while  fishing  for  Black  Bass,  Grisies  Nigricans^  with  a  large  gaudy  fiy, 
and  landed  him,  after  a  long  and  severe  struggle,  having  only  a  light 
fly-rod,  and  neither  gaff  nor  landing  net,  although  I  was  fishing  with 
a  Salmon-reel,  and  one  hundred  yards  of  line. 

I  was  not  at  that  time  sufficiently  conversant  with  minute  distinc- 
tions to  say  positively  to  what  species  this  large  fish  belonged,  and  1 


f 


CSOCIDX. 


159 


uufortunatoly  took  no  notos  at  tho  time.  Aocording  to  tho  best  of 
my  recollection,  however,  it  was  a  longitudinally  Hpotted  6nh,  and  if 
BO,  was  probably  a  stray  Northern  Pickerel,  which  had  found  his  way 
down  the  canals,  from  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  into  that  of  the 
Hudson. 

And  this,  which  would  at  first  seem  a  highly  improbable,  if  not 
impossible  hypothesis,  becomes  at  onco  reasonable,  when  the  fact  is 
known  that  three,  at  least,  of  the  fish  peculiar  to  tho  great  lakes  and 
to  the  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence  have  found  their  way  into  the 
Hudson  and  iis  tributaries  since  the  opening  of  the  various  canals, 
and  are  now  taken  abundantly  within  the  State  of  New  York — these 
are  tho  greater  Black  Bass,  Gristes  Nigricans ;  tho  Oswego^not  to 
be  confounded  with  tho  Otsago — Bass,  Corvina  Oscula;  and  the 
Rock  Bass,  CentrarcAus  jEnem. 

Any  of  these  species,  in  order  to  reach  the  Hudsou,  must  descend 
the  canals,  and  take  advantage  of  the  moment  when  the  boats  are 
passing  through  the  locks,  and  the  gat3S  opened — ^whioh,  when  we 
consider  the  commotion  of  the  water,  the  splashing,  hubbub,  and  con- 
fusion which  occurs  at  such  times,  is  in  itself  sufficiently  extraordinary, 
and  soems  to  go  far  toward  proving  that  fish,  except  as  regards  feeling, 
are  much  less  shy  than  is  commonly  believed,  and  toward  abolishing 
the  idea  that  they  are  driven  out  of  their  favorite  rivers  by  craft  or 
steamboats. 

If  one  species,  however,  can  succeed  in  passing  these  numerous 
obstacles,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  another  from  doing  likewise  ; 
and  it  is  in  no  respect  more  difficult  to  believe  that  the  Northern  Pick- 
erel should  so  make  his  way  to  our  southern  waters,  than  that  the 
varieties  of  Bass  above-mentioned  should — as  it  is  well-established 
that  they  have  done— introduce  themselves  as  an  indigenous  fish  in  the 
same. 

From  what  I  have  personally  seen,  therefore,  of  the  Common  Pick- 
erel, Esox  ReticulatuSy  I  am  a  good  deal  inclined  to  doubt  the  tales  I 
have  heard  of  its  great  size ;  and,  until  I  shall  be  satisfied,  on  personal 
examination,  am  unwilling  to  credit  him  with  a  growth  exceeding  six 
or  seven  pounds. 

This  fish,  as  will  appear  from  examination  of  the  cut,  follows  the 
type  of  the  Mascalonge,  in  the  elongation  of  the  snout,  the  curvature 


160 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


of  the  lower  jaw,  and  the  smallness,  though  not  absolute  deficiency, 
of  teeth  in  the  fore  part  thereof. 

It  is  easily  distinguished  by  its  having  its  cheeks  and  gill-covers 
completely  cased  in  small  scales,  and  by  the  brownish  lines  on  its 
flanks,  occasionally  intersecting  each  other,  like  the  meshes  of  a  net, 
whence  the  name  Reticulatm.  , 

In  form  this  Pike  closely  resembles  the  others  of  his  family.  His 
body  is  quadrilateral,  the  back  broader  than  the  belly  ;  the  depth  is  to 
the  entire  length,  including  the  caudal,  as  one  to  seven,  the  thickness 
is  about  two-thirds  of  the  depth ;  the  length  of  the  head  to  the 
entire  length  is  as  on  3  to  four ;  the  posterior  edge  of  the  orbit  is 
midway  between  the  tip  of  the  snout  and  the  posterior  margin  of  the 
free  gill-cover  ;  the  origin  of  the  ventral  fin  is  midway  between  the 
tip  of  the  snout  and  the  fork  of  the  caudal ;  the  termination  of  the 
caudal  opposite  to  the  origin  of  the  anal ;  the  gill-covers  are  nearly 
vertical,  and  very  slightly  rounded,  except  the  margin  of  the  suboper- 
culum,  which  is  very  short  as  compared  with  the  operculum ;  the 
brauchiostegous  rays  are  nine  in  number,  dorsal  fin  rays  twenty, 
pectoral  sixteen,  ventral  ten,  anal  twenty,  caudal  eighteen,  seven 
above  and  seven  below  the  greater  rays. 

The  back  is  of  an  olive  green  with  blue  refiections,  the  sides  olive 
green  fading  into  greenish  yellow,  with  vertical  lines  of  dull  brown 
occasionally  crossing  one  another,  so  as  to  form  a  sort  of  irregular 
network ;  the  dorsal  and  caudal  fins  are  of  an  olive  brown  clouded 
with  green;  the  pectorals  and  ventrals  greenish  brown,  margined 
mth  dull  yellow;  the  anal  dusky  green;  the  irides  golden  yellow, 
the  cheeks  and  opercula,  which  are  covered  with  small  scales,  are 
olive  green,  with  brownish  marks  and  reflections.  The  snout  brown  ; 
the  lower  jaw  and  gill-rays  white ;  the  belly  white,  marked  with  brown. 

This  is  the  Common  Pickerel  of  the  Middle  and  Eastern  states ;  and 
is  the  fish  intended,  when  the  word  Pickerel  is  used  without  the  aid  of 
any  epithet  or  definition.  It  is  rather  a  favorite  fish ;  and  has  been 
injudiciously  introduced  inio  many  fine  Trout  ponds  and  streams, 
which  have  in  consequence  lost  all  their  attractions  to  the  fiy-fisher, 
but  now  swarm  with  this  coarser  and  comparatively  worthless  fish. 

He  is  a  bold  biter,  and  affords  considerable  sport  when  hooked ;  but 
is  coarse,  watery,  and  of  small  value  on  the  table. 


.i.JJiJiliiiL.g|L»Mg— 


BSOOIDiE. 


lei 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTEEYOII. 


ESOCIDiE. 


'"V. 


THE  LONG  ISLAND  PICKEREL. 


Eaox  Faaeiatus ;  De  Kay. 

This,  which  is  the  smallest  and  most  insignificant  of  the  family,  so 
far  as  its  sporting  or  epicurean  qualities  are  concerned,  was  first  distin- 
guished and  named  by  Dr.  DeKay,  of  New  York. 

Its  principal  characteristic  is  the  very  remarkable  size  of  its  scales, 
which,  in  most  of  the  family,  even  in  the  enormous  Mascalonge,  are 
very  minute  and  slender. 

In  this  little  denizen  of  the  running  brooks  and  clear  Trout  ponds 
of  Long  Island,  the-  scales  are  larger  than  in  any  other  of  the  family, 
so  as  to  make  it  resemble,  in  that  particular,  some  of  the  Cyprinidoi^ 
rather  than  its  own  tribe. 

In  other  respects,  size  excepted,  it  differs  little  from  the  other  Pikej 
which  follow  the  type  of  the  Northern  Pickerel,  rather  than  that  of  the 
Mascalonge^  to  which  variety  it  belongs ;  as  is  readily  seen  in  the 
short  snout,  straight  lower  jaw,  of  this  small  fish,  the  latter  carrying 
its  teeth,  of  full  size,  quite  round  the  fore  part  of  the  jaw. 

The  Long  Island  Pickerel  rarely,  if  ever,  in  those  waters,  exceeds 
a  pound  weight,  and  that  is  greatly  above  the  average,  which  is  proba- 
bly nearer  one-half  that  size.  It  is  less  voracious  also  than  the  larger 
members  of  its  family,  and  is  said  to  be  in  no  wise  detrimental  to  the 
Trout,  which  literally  swarm  in  the  same  waters.  Indaed,  its  size 
would  render  it  innocuous  to  anything  beyond  the  small  xry,  as  a 


162 


AMERICAN  FISHES 


well-grown  pound  Brook  Trout  would  bo  considerably  more  than  a 
match  for  any  of  these  little  Pickerel  which  have  come  under  my  ob- 
servation. In  shape  and  general  proportions,  the  Long  Island  Pickerel 
is  not  dissimilar  to  the  species  last  described,  the  head  alone  excepted, 
which,  allowance  being  made  for  the  difFereiice  of  size,  and  the  scali- 
ness  of  the  cheeks  and  opercula,  is,  in  all  respects,  similar  to  that  of 
the  Great  Northern  Pickerel. 

Its  gill-covers  do  not  materially  differ  from  those  of  the  Common 
Pickerel,  except  that  the  lower  margin  of  the  suboperculum  is  some- 
thing more  oblique,  giving  the  posterior  edge  of  the  free  margin 
rather  an  angular  form. 

The  branchiostegous  rays  are  four  in  number  ;  the  dorsal  fin-rays 
twenty-two,  pectoral  sixteen,  ventral  ten,  anal  eighteen,  and  caudal 
eighteen,  seven  above  and  seven  below  the  greater  rays. 

Its  color  is  olive  green,  darker  on  the  back,  and  fading  into  greenish 
yellow  on  the  sides,  irregularly  barred  with  transverse  waving  bands 
of  dusky  brown,  whence  its  designation  of  Fasciatus.  The  fins  are 
brownish  green,  generally,  without  spots  or  bars ;  the  pectorals  and 
ventrals  the  palest,  and  bordered  with  dingy  yellow. 

Before  closing  this  paper  I  would  mention  a  very  remarkable  speci- 
men of  this  fish,  which  was  kindly  sent  to  me  by  my  friend,  Mr. 
William  Pennington,  of  Newark,  who  perceived  that  it  was  a  fish  of 
unusual  character,  and  knowing  that  I  was  engaged  in  this  work,  took 
some  pains  to  procure  me  a  sight  of  it. 

This  individual  was  caught  in  a  net  in  the  salt-water,  in  the  lower 
part  of  Newark  bay,  and  at  first  sight  I  was  inclined  to  believe  it  a 
nondescript  species. 

It  weighed  something  over  a  pound  and  a  half,  was  unusually  thick 
in  proportion  to  its  depth,  and  was  in  the  finest  condition.  Its  color, 
however,  was  the  most  remarkable  ;  for  the  back  and  sides,  do^u  to 
the  lateral  line,  were  of  the  richest  and  most  lustrous  copper-color, 
paling  on  the  sides  into  bright  brazen  yellow,  with  the  belly  of  a  silvery 
whiteness.  The  cheeks,  gill-covers,  and  fins  all  partook  of  the  same 
coppery  hue,  and  the  whole  fish  was  far  more  lucent  and  metallic  than 
any  of  the  family  I  bad  before  seen.  There  was  not  the  slightest  in- 
dication of  any  transverse  bars  or  of  any  mottling ;  nor  was  there  any 
of  that  sea-green  color  which  is  so  peculiar  to  the  Pike  family. 


^ 


ESOCIDiE. 


163 


On  a  minute  examination,  however,  of  its  characteristics,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  size  of  its  scales,  I  was  perfectly  satisfied  that  it  was 
nsither  more  nor  less  than  an  individual  Long  Island  Pickerel,  l^sox 
Fasciatus,  which,  having  wandered  into  salt-waters,  had  thus  entirely 
changed  its  colors,  and  grown  to  a  weight  exceeding  its  natural  average, 
in  the  ratio  of  at  least  three  to  one,  probably  from  the  superiority  and 
greater  abundance  of  food  which  he  found  in  his  new  hunting  grounds. 

I  did  not  myself  taste  the  fish,  but  was  informed  that  it  was  of 
very  unusual  excellence. 

I  never  saw  a  more  striking  instance  of  the  effect  which  different 
waters  have  upon  the  coloring  and  condition  of  fishes,  than  in  this 
Pickerel ;  nothing  was  left  unchanged  except  those  specific  characters 
on  which  alone  permanent  distinctions  can  be  founded ;  and  without  a 
knowledge  of  which,  the  quickest  obssrvation  is  useless,  so  far  as  as- 
signing their  places  to  any  of  the  animal  kingdom. 

In  addition  to  the  four  species  above  described,  there  arc  laid  down 
in  the  books  three  others,  beside  the  hideous  Garpike,  or  Alligator 
Gar,  Esoz  Osseus,  of  the  West. 

These  are  the  Esox  Niger,  Esox  Phahratus,  and  Esox  Vittatus, 
of  the  western  waters,  all  which  are  so  closely  allied,  and  so  closely 
similar  in  habit,  that  there  is  no  object  in  occupying  space  in  their 
description,  the  rather  as  they  are  well  known,  and  not  liable  to  be 
mistaken  for  others  of  the  same  familv. 


Note  to  Revised  Edition. — I  have  observed  a  statement  of  a  correspondent  to  the 
N.  Y.  Spirit  of  the  Times,  that  I  have  erred  in  assigning  one  to  one  and  half  pounds 
as  the  limit  of  growth  to  the  Long  Island  Pickerel,  because  he  had  killed  Pickerel 
of  four  pc  nda  and  upward  on  Long  Island.  The  common  Pickerel,  Esox  Reti- 
culatua,  which  grows  to  five  and  even  teveu  pounds,  "ken  on  Long  Island,  but 
is  not,  therefore,  or  for  other  cause,  the  Long  Island  i  :rel,  which  was  scientifi- 
cally distinguished  from  it  by  DeKay,  on  account  of  its  diminutive  size  and  large 
scales.    The  distinction  has  been  allowed  by  Agassiz,  and  all  eminent  naturalists. 


164 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTEETGII. 


OTPEINIDJB. 


THE   COMMON  CARP. 


Cyprinun  Carpio;  Linneeus,  Cuvier. 

Of  this  family,  CyprinideBy  the  principal  characteristics  are  a  mouth 
slightly  cleft ;  weak,  and  generally  toothless  jaws ;  pharyngeal  bones 
strongly  dentated ;  one  dorsal  fin  ;  branchial  rays  few  in  number ;  to 
which  may  be  added  large  fleshy  lips,  and  bodies  covered  with  large 
scales. 

It  comprises  eighty  or  ninety  well-known  American  species,  not  one 
of  which  is  worthy  of  not\ce,  as  either  a  fish  of  sport  or  a  dainty. 
There  are  in  America  no  Carps  proper,  indigenous  to  the  country — no 
Barbels — no  CobiiiSj  or  loaches.  Leucisci^  analogous  to,  though  by 
no  means — as  stated  by  Dr.  J.  V.  C.  Smith,  of  Massachusetts — iden- 
tical with  the  Chub,  Roach,  Dace,  and  Bleak  of  Europe,  are  found  in 
abundance  under  the  above  names,  but  still  more  commonly  as  Shiners. 
The  genus  AbramiSj  Bream,  has  again  several  representatives  in  the 
waters  of  North  America,  but  none,  either  of  this  or  the  last  sub- 
genus, can  attain  to  dimensions  which  lead  the  angler  to  trouble  him- 
self about  them,  unless  it  be  as  bait  for  other  fish,  as  Pike  and  Pearch, 
for  which  purpose  several  of  these  fish  are  better  adapted  than  those 
of  any  other  family,  unless  it  be  the  young  fry  of  the  Salmonida^ 
while  in  their  Parr  form. 


/^ 


CYPRINIDJS. 


165 


In  lier.  of  those  genera,  however,  which  exist  in  England  and  on 
the  continent  of  Europe,  but  entirely  lack  American  representatives, 
several  prevail  here  which  are  totally  wanting  in  Europe,  as  the  genus 
Labeo,  the  genus  Catastomus^  Suckers,  or  Sucking  Carp,  many  varieties 
of  which  are  found  throughout  the  waters  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  from  north  to  south,  and  many  species  of  Hydrargyra^  ana- 
logous to  the  European  Minnow. 

Several  of  these  last  species  are  of  great  interest  to  the  naturalist,  the 
Catastomif  or  Suckers,  especially,  from  the  singular  formation  of  their 
mouths,  which  are  situated  far  below  and  posterior  to  the  tip  of  the 
snout,  and  furnished  with  crimped  and  penda,nt  labials,  adapted  for  the 
deglutition  of  vegetable  substances  and  even  of  mud;  but  to  the 
sportsman  they  are  of  no  account,  as  they  do  not  take  the  bait,  and 
are  worth  little  as  bait  themselves,  while,  by  the  epicure,  they  are 
justly  held  in  utter  scorn. 

The  truth  is,  that  nowhere  under  the  canopy  of  Heaven  are  the 
genus  Cyprinus  worthy  to  be  accounted  sporting  fishes,  and  nowhere 
are  they  eatable — ^not  even  excepting  the  Carp  and  Tench  of  Europe 
— ^unless  with  the  aid  and  appliances  of  a  most  careful  cuisine,  and  by 
dint  of  stewing  in  claret,  with  condiments  and  spices,  garlic  and  force- 
meat balls,  and  anchovies,  such  as  might  convert  a  kid  glove,  or  the 
sole  of  a  reasonably  tender  India-rubber  shoe,  into  delicious  esculents. 

The  shyness  of  the  Carp  in  biting,  the  great  size  of  the  Bream  and 
Barbel,  and  even  in  some  waters  of  the  Chub,  induce  bottom-fish- 
ing anglers  at  home  to  take  some  pleasure  in  their  pursuit  and  capture, 
but  that  is  invariably  in  such  slow  and  sluggish  waters  as  contain  no 
gamer  or  more  delicate  fish ;  and  the  dull,  logy,  watery  fish  them- 
selves, and  the  cockney  punt-fishers,  who  aspire  to  take  them,  are  held 
in  about  equal  esteem,  or  disesteem,  by  those  who  know  what  it  is  to 
throw  a  long  line  lightly,  with  a  cast  of  flies,  for  the  vigorous-speckled 
Trout,  or  to  spin,  or  even  troll,  with  the  Parr  or  Minnow,  for  the 
savage  and  voracious  Pike  or  Salmon 

In  America,  none  of  the  Leucisciy  Chub,  Roach,  Dace,  or  Shiners, 
and  none  of  the  Abramis,  Bream,  exceed  nine  or  ten  inches  in  length 
and  consequently  are  never  subjects  of  more  serious  pursuit  than  the 
holiday  crooked-pin  and  angle-worm  fishing  of  schoolboys.     They  are 


166 


\ » 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


the  detestation  of  the  Trout  bottom-angler,  constantly  nibbling  away 
his  bait,  and  tantalizing  him  with  vain  hopes  of  a  bite. 

Of  this  family,  therefore,  so  far  as  the  true  American  genera  are 
concerned,  no  notice  need  be  taken  in  a  sporting  work,  except  as  re- 
lates to  two  or  three  little  fishes,  to  which  I  shall  devote  a  few  lines 
each,  as  being  excellent  bait  for  all  the  larger  and  bolder  fishes. 

Within  the  last  few  years,  however,  two  European  varieties  have 
been  introduced,  and  have  become  entirely  naturalized  in  some  of  our 
waters.  The  Gold  Carp,  Cyprinus  Auratus  of  Linnaeus  and  Cuvier, 
or  common  Gold  and  Silver  fish  of  China,  in  the  Schuylkill,  and  in 
some  streams  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  Common  Carp  of  Europe, 
whose  title  stands  at  the  head  of  this  paper,  in  the  Hudson,  especially 
in  the  vicinity  of  Newburgh. 

The  former  of  these  little  fish  is,  indeed,  unworthy  of  notice,  except 
as  an  ornamental  fish,  to  be  kept  in  garden  tanks  and  fountains  ;  but 
the  other  being  much,  though  I  must  confess  in  my  opinion  unde- 
servedly^  esteemed  in  Europe,  and  having  been  deemed  worthy  of  le- 
gislative enactments  for  hia  protection,  by  the  State  of  New  York,  I 
shall  proceed  to  describe  as  a  species,  which,  within  a  year  or  two  at 
the  farthest,  will  come  within  the  American  angler's  list  of  game. 

The  mode  of  this  fish's  introduction  into  American  waters,  is  as  fol- 
io tvs: — Captain  Robinson,  who  has  a  fine  place  immediately  on  the 
banks  of  the  Hudson  river,  containing  some  fine  fish  ponds,  between 
Newburgh  and  New  Windsor,  imported  some  years  since  a  quantity 
of  Carp  at  considerable  expense,  I  believe  from  Holland,  where  the 
species  is  very  abundant  and  very  fine  in  quality.  His  ponds  were 
soon  admirably  stocked ;  but  in  process  of  time  a  heavy  freshet 
carried  away  his  dams  and  fiood-gates,  and  a  very  large  proportion  of 
his  Carp  escaped  into  the  Hudson.  This  fact  being  represented  to 
the  Legislature  of  the  State,  a  penal  enactment  was  passed,  heavily 
mulcting  any  person  who  should  take  any  one  of  these  Hudson  river 
Carp,  at  any  season  or  under  any  circumstances,  until  after  the  expi-, 
ration  of  five  years  from  the  passage  of  the  act. 

The  provisions  of  this  bill  have  been  strictly  enforced  ;  several  per- 
sons have  been  fined,  and  the  fish  is  now  extremely  abundant. 

I  cannot  here,  in  relating  these  circumstances,  control  myself,  but 


> 


z' 


CTPRINIDJB. 


167 


must  invoke  tho  contempt  and  indignation  of  every  gentle  sportsman, 
every  reasonable  thinking  man,  upon  the  heads  of  that  ignorant, 
motloy,  and  destructive  assemblage,  which  is  entitled  the  Senate  and 
Assembly  of  New  York.  For  the  last  fifteen  years  not  a  session  has 
passed  without  the  strenuous  and  sustained  attempts  of  the  most  edu- 
cated and  most  influential  gentlemen  of  the  State,  both  of  the  city 
and  the  agricultural  counties,  to  induce  the  faineant  demagogues  of 
that  assembly  to  take  some  measure  to  prevent  the  total  extinction, 
within  that  very  county  of  Orange,  of  some  of  the  noblest  species  of 
game  in  existence,  indigenous  to  that  region,  and  once  abundant,  but 
already  scarce,  and  within  twenty  years  certain  to  be  lost  altogether, 
through  the  mal-practiccs  of  their  destroyers,  the  errors  of  the  ex- 
isting game-laws,  and  the  difficulty  of  enforcing  them  in  their  present 
state. 

It  is  quite  unnecessary  to  state  that  these  efforts  were  wholly  inef- 
fectual— that  it  was  found  impossible  to  induce  those  learned  Thcbann 
to  do  anything  to  prevent  American  Woodcock  from  being  shot  before 
they  are  fledged,  and  American  Brook  Trout  from  being  caught  upon 
their  spawning  beds ;  but  that  no  sooner  is  a  coarse,  watery,  foreign 
fish  accidentally  thrown  into  American  waters,  than  it  is  vigorously 
and  effectively  protected,  which  protection  was  merely  granted,  I  be- 
lieve, to  enable  "  a  facetious  member  of  the  legislature^''^  as  he  is  styled 
by  the  learned  Doctor  Bethune  in  his  fine  edition  of  Walton's  Angler, 
to  draw  a  witty  comparison  between  the  naturalization  of  "  scaly 
foreigners"  and  Irish  voters.  I  dare  say  the  facetious  member  was  not 
devoid  of  hopes  that  the  scaly  foreigners  would  some  day  or  other  vote 
for  him. 

It  is  impossible  to  feel  anything  but  contempt  for  such  unutterable 
blockheadism,  while  it  is  equally  impossible  to  expect  anything  better, 
after  their  recent  exhibitions  in  the  legislatorial  line,  from  such  a  body 
as  the  New  York  Houses  of  Assembly. 

Since,  however,  their  wisdom  has  pronounced  that  henceforth  the 
Carp  is  to  be  a  game  fish  of  America,  I  shall  proceed  to  describe 
this  "  scaly  foreigner,"  thus  naturalized  with  a  five  years'  exemption 
from  liability  to  capture,  in  the  waters  of  Hudson's  river. 

The  European  Carp  is  one  of  the  fish  which  has  been  the  longest 
known   and  esteemed,  being  mentioned  by  Aristotle    and    Pliny, 


168 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


although  thoy  do  not  at  that  period  appear  to  have  attained  their 
present  celebrity.  They  are  found  in  most  of  the  lakes  and  rivers 
of  Europe,  but  thrive  best  in  the  more  temperate  southern  districts, 
degenerating  when  they  are  carried  farther  north.  It  is  said  that  in 
Russia  they  are  even  now  unknown.  "Their  growth,"  says  Mr. 
Yarrel,  "  is,  however,  particularly  cultivated  in  Austria  and  Prussia, 
and  considerable  traffic  in  Carp  prevails  in  various  parts  of  the  Euro- 
pean continent,  where  an  acre  of  water  will  let  for  as  much  yearly  rent 
as  an  acre  of  land,  and  where  fresh-water  fishes,  as  articles  of  food,  are 
held  in  higher  estimation  than  in  this  country." — Mr.  Yarrel  means 
England,  but  the  observation  is  even  more  applicable  to  the  United 
States  than  to  Great  Britain.  "  Carp,"  ho  continues,  "  are  said  to  live 
to  a  great  age,  even  to  one  hundred  and  fifty,  or  two  hundred  years ; 
but  they  lose  their  rich  color — their  scales,  like  the  productions  of  the 
cuticle  in  some  other  animals,  becoming  gray  and  white  with  ago." 

The  exact  period  of  the  introduction  of  the  Carp  to  England  is 
unknown,  but  it  is  mentioned  in  the  Boke  of  St.  Albans,  by  Lady 
Juliana  Berners,  printed  in  1496,  and  the  great  probability  is  that  it 
was  naturalized  from  the  continent,  probably  from  the  Low  Countries, 
or  Austria,  previous  to  the  suppression  of  the  monastic  institutions. 

The  Carp  thrives  best  in  ponds  or  lakes,  and  in  such  parts  of  rivers 
as  have  a  slow,  lazy  current,  and  a  muddy  or  marshy  bottom. 

"  They  are  very  prolific,"  I  again  quote  from  Mr.  Yarrel,  "  breed- 
ing much  more  freely  in  lakes  and  ponds  than  in  rivers.  Bloc  found 
six  hundred  thousand  ova  in.  the  roe  of  a  female  of  nine  pounds'  weight, 
and  Schneider  seven  hundred  th'isand  in  a  fish  often  pounds'  weight. 
They  spawn  toward  the  end  of  May.  or  the  beginning  of  June,  depend- 
ing on  the  temperature  of  the  water  and  the  season ;  and  the  ova  are 
deposited  upon  weeds,  among  which  the  female  is  followed  by  two  or 
three  males,  and  the  fecundation  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  ova  is 
by  this  provision  of  Nature  effectually  secured ;  but  they  both  breed 
and  grow  much  more  freely  in  some  waters  than  in  others,  without 
any  apparent  or  accountable  cause." 

The  Carp,  and  indeed  the  whole  family  of  CyprinideR^  are  the  least 

.  voracious  of  all  fishes,  and  the  least  addicted  to  animal  food,  the  larvae 

of  insects,  worms,  the  softer  and  more  gelatinous  parts  of  aquatic 

plants,  and  even  vegetable  mud,  furnishing  them  with  ample  subsist- 


CYPRINIDA. 


169 


0D03.  During  tho  winter,  it  ia  believed  that  they  eat  littlo  or  nothing, 
and  lie,  half-torpid,  in  the  mud.  They  are  extraordinarily  tenaoioua 
of  life,  and  can  be  kept  alive  iu  a  cool  place  for  many  days,  and  even 
weeks,  if  placed  in  wet  moss,  and  fed  on  bread  steeped  in  milk.  This 
peculiarity  renders  them  very  easy  of  transportation. 

They  are  slow  of  growth,  not  arriving  at  the  weight  of  three  pounds 
before  their  sixth,  or  ten  before  their  ninth  year  ;  they  arrive,  how- 
ever, ultimately  at  a  very  great  size,  having  been  taken  up  to  eighteen 
pounds,  at  which  ultimum  they  are  nearly  as  broad  as  they  are  long, 
•.'easuring  thirty  inches  in  length  by  twenty-two  or  three  in  depth. 

"  They  are  in  season  for  the  table,"  says  Yarrel,  once  more,  "  from 
October  to  April,  and  are  greatly  indebted  to  cooks  for  the  estimation 
in  which  they  are  held. 

"  The  mouth  is  small ;  no  apparent  teeth ;  a  barbule  or  cirrus  at 
the  upper  part  of  each  corner  of  the  mouth,  with  a  second  smaller  one 
above  it  on  each  side  ;  the  nostrils  are  large,  pierced  at  the  second- 
third  of  the  distance  between  the  lip  and  the  eye.  The  eye  is  small ; 
the  operculum  marked  with  striae  radiating  from  the  anterior  edge ; 
nape  and  back  rising  suddenly.  The  dorsal  fin-rays  are  twenty-two 
in  number,  the  pectorals  seventeen,  ventrals  nine,  caudals  nineteen. 
I'he  first  dorsal  fin-ray  is  short  and  bony,  the  second  u,U\.  bony  and 
strongly  serrated  posteriorly.  The  first  anal  fin-ray  is  also  bony  and 
serrated  posteriorly.  The  tail  forked,  the  longest  rays  as  long  again 
as  those  of  the  centre.  The  caudal  rays  of  the  two  halves  of  the 
tail  always  unequal  in  number  in  tho  Cyprinida.  The  body  covered 
with  large  scales,  about  twelve  rows  between  the  ventral  and  dorsal 
fins ;  the  general  color  golden  olive  brown,  head  darkest ;  insides 
golden ;  belly  yellowish  white ;  lateral  line  interrupted,  straight.  Fins, 
dark  brown." 

This  fish  is  very  well  adapted  for  keeping  in  muddy  stew  ponds, 
when  he  will  become  very  fat,  and  can  be  used  with  advantage  when 
no  other  fish  is  to  be  procured. 
12 


170 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERTOII. 


AMERICAN    riSHBB. 


CYPBINID.£. 


THE    AMERICAN    ROACH.       ,  ,    .,t, 

LEUCI8CU8    RUTILU8  •  •    '  ,* 

The  American  Roach  is  a  pretty,  lively  little  fish,  common  to  most 
of  the  ponds  and  small  running  streams  of  the  Middle  and  Northern 
States,  and  is  closely  analogous  to  the  European  fish  of  the  same 
name,  although  it  never  approaches  it  in  size.  In  England  the  Roach 
has  been  taken  up  to  the  weight  of  five  pounds,  in  the  United  States 
it  rarely  exceeds  five  or  six  inches  in  length,  and  together  with  its 
congeners,  the  Chub  and  Dace,  as  they  are  generally  termed,  though 
none  of  them  identical  with  the  European  species,  are  seldom  taken 
except  by  schoolboys,  and  never  put  on  the  table  except  in  remote 
country  districts  where  sea-fish,  and  the  better  inland  varieties  being 
unknown,  anything  will  pass  muster,  in  this  line,  as  dainties. 

The  Roach  is  readily  distinguished  by  his  blood-red  irides,  and  the 
ruddy  tinge  which  borders  his  pectoral,  ventral,  and  anal  fins.     His 
head  is  thick  and  obtuse  at  the  snout,  the  labials  coarse  and  fleshy 
The  eye  large,  and  situated  midway  between  the  tip  of  the  snout  and 
the  ponrtcrior  margin  of  the  gill-covers.     The  gill-covers  are  mode- 


f, 


CYPRINID4:. 


171 


ratoly  ourrod,  forming  an  irrogular  soniioirole.  Tho  pectoral  fin  has 
its  origin  immediately  behind  the  edge  of  tho  Buboporculuni.  Tho 
origin  of  tho  dorsal  is  midway  between  tho  snout  and  origin  of  the 
caudal  fin,  and  tho  vcntrals  vertically  under  it.  The  caudal  fin  is 
powerful  and  lunatod.  Tho  dorsal  rays  are  ten  in  number,  the 
pectoral  sixteen,  ventral  nine,  anal  eleven,  and  caudal  nineteen.  This 
little  fish  is  grcgariou.s,  swimming  in  shoals,  and  feeding  on  worms 
and  herbs.  It  is  admirable  as  a  bait  for  Pike,  and  for  the  larger  va- 
rieties of  Pearch  and  River  Bass,  being,  I  think,  preferred  by  them 
to  any  other  fish,  as  the  Parr  is  by  tho  Sea  Salmon,  and  tho  larger 
species  of  lako  and  sea  Trout.  The  Chub  and  Dace  arc  also  good 
for  the  same  purpose,  but  inferior  to  the  Roach.  As  sporting  fish  it 
would  bo  a  loss  of  time  to  describe  them  at  length.  The  American 
Chub  never  exceeds  ten  inches. 

•  Note  to  Revheu  Edition. — Since  penning  the  above,  I  hoar  from  wme  cot' 
recpondents  that  in  many  of  the  Eastern  water«  they  grow  to  a  much  larger  b\m  ; 
my  viewB  are.  however,  those  of  AgasBiz,  DeKay,  Smith,  and  Richardson. 


•/.!'•:'-"■ 


172 


AMBRIOAN    PIflllRH. 


AHIMIMINAL 
MALACOlTKnYOII. 


OTPRINinA 


1  • 


THE   NEW    YORK    SHINER. 

Utillni  Chnjtoleueaa ;  Agaasiz. — Cyprinua  Chrytoleueaa ;  Mitchil. 

TiiiM  boautiful  littlo  fish  is  common  to  almost  ovcry  pond  and  stream 
Uironghout  the  tompcrate  regions  of  North  America,  from  the  waters 
(if  Now  England  to  those  of  Lake  Huron.  It  is  found  associating  to  a 
oortttio  dngroo  with  the  species  last  described,  and  still  more  com- 
monly with  the  Sun-Fish,  Pomotis  Vulgaris^  and  the  Yellow  Pearch, 
PerM  FlfiveBcens,  though  it  undoubtedly  falls  a  victim  to  the  voracious 
nppotitu  of  the  latter  fish,  when  it  grows  to  a  larger  size.  It  loves 
li^AViiWy  xhallows,  on  which  it  spawns,  and  is  constantly  to  be  seen 
fiportin;^  among  the  leaves  of  the  large  water  lilies. 

Like  the  species  last  named,  it  is  an  excellent  bait  both  for  Pearch 
and  Pike,  and  is  often  taken  on  spinning  tackle  by  great  Trouts, 
whether  brook  or  lacustrine. 

It  belongs  to  that  group  of  Leucisci  which  have  the  dorsal  fin  far 
back,  and  in  this  rcspoct  greatly  resembles  the  subgenus  Abramis,  or 
Bream, 

Itii  head  is  small,  smooth,  and  depressed  above  The  mouth  ia 
Nmall,  and  destitute  of  teeth.  The  eyes  are  large,  with  yellow  irides. 
Tbo  body  is  very  deep,  being  very  nearly  one-third  of  the  length, 
Ascluding  the  caudal  fin      The  branchiostegal  rays  are  three  in  num- 


CYPRINIUA. 


173 


bcr,  the  pectoral  Beyonu^on,  yontral  niDo,  dorsal  nine,  anal  fourteen, 
and  caudal  nineteen. 

The  upper  y  irt  of  the  lioad,  bock,  and  niden,  dark  glossy  green ; 
lower  sides,  and  belly,  silvery  white,  with  golden  reflections.  Dorsal 
fin,  brownish  yellow  ;  poctorals,  reddish  buff ;  ventruls,  dull  lake, 
anal  and  caudal,  dull  reddish  brown,  streaked  with  lake. 

Of  this  group,  there  are  several  species,  all  abundant,  and  nflfording 
much  sport  to  schoolboys  and  young  ladies.  To  the  angler,  except 
as  bait,  they  are  little  worth,  and  to  describe  one  variety,  as  a  typo  of 
the  species,  will  be  amply  sufficient. 


174 


AMBRIOAN   FISHES. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERTGII. 


CTTRINIDA 


AMERICAN  BREAM. 

Abramis  Versicolor  i  Agaisia. 

The  Bream  of  America,  of  which  there  are  several  inferior  species, 
like  most  others  of  this  family  which  I  have  enumerated,  never  grows 
to  any  size,  and  is  very  little  accounted  by  the  angler  in  general, 
though  in  some  of  the  western  waters,  where  they  bite  freely,  they 
are  sometimes  angled  for  with  the  small  red  worm,  and  arc  accounted 
a  delicate  pan-fish. 

They  are  distinguished  from  the  other  Cyprini,  by  the  great  depth 
of  their  bodies,  by  having  the  dorsal  set  very  far  back,  behind  the 
extremity  of  the  ventral,  and  by  the  great  length  of  the  dorsal  fin. 

The  tongue  is  smooth,  as  well  as  the  jaws  and  palate,  but  the 
lower  pharyngeal  bones  are  set  with  large  teeth. 

Like  the  other  Cyprini^  the  Breams  are  among  the  least  carnivo- 
rous of  fishes. 

This  is  a  beautiful  species.  The  back  is  dark,  of  a  hair-brown  hue, 
varied  with  many  colored  changeable  reflections ;  the  sides  goL'on 
yellow,  and  the  belly  silvery  white  ;  the  dorsal  and  caudal  fins  brown  ; 
the  others  yellowish,  tinged  with  red 


f 


CYPRINIOiE. 


175 


The  branchial  rays  are  three  in  number,  the  dorsal  fin-rays  twelve, 
the  pectorals  twelve,  the  ventrals  seven,  the  anal  twenty-seven,  and 
the  caudal  nineteen. 

A  little  fish,  closely  resembling  this  in  form,  is  described  and  figured 
in  Dr.  Richardson's  Northern  Zoology,  on  the  authority  of  Lieut. 
Col.  Smith,  who  took  it  at  the  confluence  of  the  Richelieu  sni  St. 
Lawrence.  It  is  known  to  the  Canadians  as  la  Quesche.  In  form,  it 
closely  resembles  this  species ;  and  in  color,  the  last  described ;  but 
it  hnG  one  spiny  ray  in  the  dorsal,  and  one  in  the  anal  fin,  and  a 
toothed  tongue,  which  would  seem  to  divide  it  from  the  genus  Abra- 
mis ;  while  the  size  of  the  anal  divides  it  from  the  true  Carps.  It 
has,  moreover,  small  scales,  and  barbels. 

\ 


•-  'I  tjf- 


r 


176 


AMBRIOAN   FI8HB8. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTEEYOII. 


OYPRINIDiE. 


MINNOWS. 

■ '   *'      ,   ■ ''' 

Hydrargyra;   Auctorum. 

The  Tdinnow  proper  of  Europe,  Cyprinus,  LeuciscuSj  Phoodnus,  ib 
unknown  to  the  waters  of  North  America,  but  ad  its    equivalent, 
and    analogous  to  it,  we  have  innumerable  species  of  the  Hydrar- 
gyray  or  American  Minnow  ;    which,  in  general  appearance,  habits 
and  haunts,  are  very  nearly  assimilated  to  the  European  fish. 

Its  food  consists  of  aquatic  plants,  small  worms,  and  minute  prrtions 
of  any  animal  substances.  It  bites  boldly  and  readily  at  small  red 
worms,  gentles,  or  the  larvae  of  any  of  the  Phryganea^  known  as  cad- 
dis-baits, stick-baits,  and  the  like,  on  the  least  Limerick  hooks,  num- 
ber twelve  ;  and  is  constantly  taken  by  boys  with  a  worm  alone  tied 
to  a  fine  string,  which  the  little  fish  swallows  so  greedily  that  he  is 
pulled  out  before  he  has  time  to  disgorge  it. 

Under  many  local  names  this  beautiful  little  Cyprinm  is  found  in 
every  swift-running  stream  with  a  gravelly  bottom,  and  in  the  shallows 
of  every  pond  or  lakelet  throughout  the  country.     They  arc  generally 


CrPRINIDf. 


177 


kaown  as  Killy-fish,  and  arc  an  ezcoUcnt  bait  for  fish  of  almost  ovory 
kind  that  prey  on  other  fish. 

As  live  bait  for  Pike,  Pearch  or  Catfish,  they  are  not  to  be  equalled ; 
and  in  spinning  or  trolling,  they  are  excellent  for  the  noble  Striped 
Bass,  the  Pike,  the  Salmon,  the  Lake  Trout  in  oil  its  varieties,  and 
for  the  Brook  Trout — especially  those  which  are  found  in  the  tide- 
creeks,  where  they  are  less  willing  than  in  other  waters  to  take  the 
fly.  A  more  particular  description  of  so  common  and  well-known  a 
fish  would  take  up  space  needlessly,  which  is  more  required  for  other 
parts  of  my  subject ;  and  the  species  are,  I  was  almost  about  to  say, 
innumerable.  Three  of  the  commoner  varieties,  and  those  most  useful 
as  bait,  are  represented  on  the  preceding  page.  '     \ 


178 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERTGII. 


CLUPIDiE. 


THE   HERRING. 


Clupea  HarenguB.  . 

The  common  Herring,  which  visits  both  continents,  runs  into  the 
mouths  of  all  the  northern  and  north-eastern  rivers  of  North  Ameri- 
ca, and  is  not  only  greatly  sought  for  as  an  article  of  food,  but  really 
affords  very  excellent  sport  to  the  angler.  In  spring,  when  he  enters 
the  estuaries  in  full  condition,  and  full  of  spawn,  he  leaps  freely  at 
any  gaudy-colored  fly — ^whether  of  the  peacock  feather,  or,  what  is  yet 
better,  a  foui^winged  fly  of  the  scarlet  ibis  and  silver  pheasant,  on  a 
scarlet  chenil  body,  not  unlike  the  fly  used  in  Black  Bass  fishing,  but 
of  a  smaller  size.  The  best  way  to  use  it  is  with  a  single  bb  shot 
attached  to  the  gut  an  inch  or  two  above  the  fly,  so  as  to  .troll  with  it, 
as  it  were,  slightly  sunken  below  the  surface.  I  have  taken  them  in 
this  manner,  off  Fort  Diamond  at  the  Narrows,  almost  as  fast  as  1 
could  cast  and  draw  in  the  fly.  ' 

The  appearance  of  this  fish  is  so  well  known  that  a  very  particular 
description  is  hardly  necessary.  The  length  of  the  head  to  the  body 
b  about  as  one  to  four,  the  depth  to  the  length  of  the  body  as  one  to 
five.  The  upper  part  of  the  fish  is  a  fine  blue,  with  green  and  other 
reflections,  when  viewed  in  different  lights  ;  the  lower  part  of  the  side 
and  beljy  silvery  white  ;  the  cheeks  and  gill-covers  silvery.  Dorsal 
and  caudal  fins  dusky ;  the  fins  on  the  lower  parts  of  the  body  almost 


CLUPID.E. 


179 


white.  The  lower  jaw  is  much  longer  than  the  other,  with  five  or  six 
small  teeth  extending  in  a  line  backwards  on  each  side  from  the  an- 
terior point ;  four  rows  of  small  teeth  on  the  central  upper  surface  of 
the  tongue,  and  a  few  small  teeth  on  the  central  surface  of  the  upper 
jaw.  Branchiostcgous  rays  are  eight  in  number,  pectoral  sixteen, 
ventral  eight,  anal  sixteen,  dorsal  nineteen,  and  caudal  eighteen. 
The  scales  are  large.     The  caudal  fin  deeply  forked. 

Several  other  species  of  Herring  are  common  to  the  waters  of  the 
United  States,  but  this  is  the  only  one  which  is  taken  with  the  fly,  or 
can  be  accounted  as  game  to  the  sportsman 


i^.ynnipiffiiii.iiwi    nw^ii 


^  i 


180 


AMBRICAN  FISHBS. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALAOOPTERTGII. 


OLUPID^. 


THE   SHAD. 

Aloaa  Prctatahilia ;  DeKay. 

This  delicious  and  well-known  fish,  which  is  by  many  persons  es- 
teemed the  queen  of  all  fishes  on  the  table,  has  been,  until  very  re- 
cently, regarded  as  one  that  could  be  taken  only  with  the  net,  and 
therefore  of  no  avail  to  the  angler.  It  is,  however,  now  clearly  proved 
that,  like  the  HeiiAUg,  the  American  Shad  will  take  a  large  gaudy  fly 
freely,  and  being  a  strong,  powerful  and  active  fish,  affords  great  play 
to  the  sportsman. 

It  is  undoubtedly  the  fact  that,  until  within  the  few  last  years,  fish- 
ing in  the  United  States,  except  of  Trout,  having  been  practised 
rather  as  a  means  of  providing  the  table,  than  as  a  matter  of  sport,  it 
has  been  taken  for  granted  that  many  species  of  fish,  which  are  easily 
captured  by  the  sean,  will  not  take  the  bait  or  the  fly  ;  and  few  spe- 
cies have  been  pursued  as  game  except  those  which  are  not  easily 
caught  otherwise  than  with  the  hook.  Fly-fishing,  moreover,  having 
been  a  few  years  ago  confined  to  a  very  few  individuals,  an  1  evt;a  now 
being  comparatively  limited,  it  was  attempted  only  with  those  families 
which  could  hardly  be  otherwise  captured.  Now,  however,  noua  avons 
changi  tout  cela^  and  opportunities  for  the  practice  of  this  delightful 
art  are  sought  for  so  eagerly,  that  any  person  is  regarded  in  some  de- 


CLUPIDA, 


181 


groe  as  the  sportsman's  benefactor  if  he  introduces  to  his  notice  a  new 
species  which  will  afford  sport  with  the  artificial  fly. 

It  is,  as  I  have  observed,  indisputably  true,  that  on  his  entrance  into 
fresh-water  from  the  salt,  for  the  purpose  of  spawning,  the  Shad  will 
readily  take  a  gaudy  fly,  the  more  readily  the  higher  he  runs  up  into 
the  cold  and  highly  aerated  waters  in  the  upper  parts  of  our  large 
rivers,  where  also  they  are  taken  in  the  greatest  perfection,  as  for 
instance  in  the  Delaware,  so  far  up  as  Milford,  in  Pike  county,  Penn- 
sylvania. 

The  New  York  Shad,  Alosa  PrastabiliSj  was,  I  believe,  first  dis- 
tinguished specifically  by  Dr.  DeKay  of  New  York,  having  been  pre- 
viously confounded  with  the  AUice  Shad  of  Europe,  Aloaa  Communn^ 
of  Cuvier,  Clupea  Alosa,  Auctorum,  to  which  it  bears  a  very  con- 
siderable resemblance,  although  I  presume  that  the  distinction  can  be 
fully  made  out. 

The  body  of  this  fish  is  deep  and  compressed,  the  thickness  rather 
less  than  one-third  of  the  length.  The  length  of  the  head  is  to  that 
of  the  whole  fish  as  one  to  six  ;  the  depth  to  the  length  as  one  to  four. 
The  scales  are  very  large  ;  the  tail  long,  slender,  and  d3eply  forked. 

The  dorsal  fin-rays  are  nineteen,  the  pectoral  fifteen,  ventral  nine, 
anal  twenty-six,  and  caudal  twenty.  The  greatest  depth  of  the  body 
is  just  before  the  ventral  fin.  The  shad  has  no  distinct  lateral  line, 
its  abdominal  edge  is  strongly  serrated,  especially  behind  the  ventrals. 

The  top  of  the  head  and  back  are  dusky  blue,  with  brown  and  green 
reflections  in  particular  points  of  view.  There  is  a  single  dusky  spot 
behind  the  opercul  sn.  The  irides,  sides  of  the  head  and  body,  are  of 
a  silvery  white,  with  a  tinge  of  copper-color.  The  dorsal  and  caudal 
fins  arc  dusky,  the  pectoral,  ventral,  and  anal  fins,  white. 

The  flesh  of  the  Shad  is  perhaps  the  most  delicate  of  any  existing 
fish ;  and,  though  it  lacks  the  lusciousness,  as  well  as  the  glutinous 
fin  of  the  Turbot,  it  is  preferred  to  that  fish  by  many  judicious  epi- 
cures, notwithstanding  the  drawback  occasioned  by  its  innumerable 
and  sharply-pointed  bones. 

From  personal  experience  and  success,  I  can  assure  the  fly-fisher 
that  he  will  find  much  sport  in  fishing  for  the  Shad  during  his  upward 
run  in  the  spring,  with  a  powerful  Trout-rod,  a  long  line,  and  such  flies 
as  he  will  procure  in  perfection  at  Conroy's,  in  Fulton-street,  New  York 


saoi 


182 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTEUTOII. 


SILUBIDifi. 


THE   CAT-FISH. 

Huron  Pimelode.    Silurua,  Pimeiodut,  Canoms;  Richardson 

This  singular  and  hideous  family  of  fishes  is  distinguished  from 
th«  others  of  the  same  order,  by  the  skin  being  either  naked  or  pro- 
tected by  large  plates,  but  always  destitute  of  true  scales.  The  inter- 
maxillaries  are  suspended  under  the  ethmoid  bone,  and  form  the  border 
of  the  upper  jaw,  while  the  labials  are  lengthened  out  into  barbels,  or 
are  simply  rudimental ;  it  has,  also,  a  second  adipose  dorsal  fin.  First 
rays  of  the  dorsal  and  pectoral  fin  spinous. 

This  family  contains  twenty-five  or  thirty  species  peculiar  to  Ame- 
rica, which  are  generally  known  as  Cat-fish,  Bull-heads,  Bull-pouts,  &c. 
They  inhabit  the  larger  lakes  and  rivers,  especially,  but  are  found  in 
all  the  waters  of  North  America. 

The  commonest  and  the  largest  species  both  belong  to  the  sub- 
genus Pimelodus,  and  are  well  known  as  Cat-fish ;  the  ordinary  kind 
measuring  only  a  few  inches  in  length,  and  never  exceeding  a  few 
ounces  weight ;  the  largest  reaching  a  hundred  or  even  a  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds,  especially  in  the  great  northern  lakes,  and  in  the  western 
rivers.     The  great  Huron  Pimelode,  or,  as  it  is  often  called,  the  Chan- 


I! 


8IHIRIDA. 


163 


nel  Cat-fish,  which  is  the  largest  of  the  family,  is  thus  dcsoribed  by 
Richardson  : 

"  Profile  oval,  tapering  into  the  tail.  Head  broadly  oval,  forming 
two-ninths  of  the  total  length.  Orbits  small,  and  nearer  to  the  snout 
than  to  the  gill-openings.  Nostrils  situate  some  distance  before  the  eye. 
A  slender  barbel,  half  an  inch  long,  springs  from  their  posterior  mar- 
gin. Snout  obtuse.  Labials  ending  in  a  tapering  barbel,  which  ia  an 
inch  and  a  quarter  long,  and  reaches  to  the  gill-opening ;  there  are 
also  two  slender  barbels,  one  each  side  of  the  chin.  Both  jaws  are 
armed  with  a  brush-like  band  of  short  teeth.  The  palate  and  vomer 
are  smooth.  In  this  genus  the  suboperculum  is  wanting ;  the  preoper- 
culum  is  attached  to  the  operculum  by  bone,  and  can  be  traced  by  its 
elevated  ridge.  The  interoperculum  cannot  be  traced  through  the 
skin.  There  are  nine  gill-rays.  The  gill-openings  are  rather  narrow. 
The  dorsal  rays  are — one  spinous,  seven  soft ;  second  dorsal,  adipose. 
Pectorals,  one  spinous,  eight  soft  ^  ventrala  eight,  anals  twenty-four, 
caudals  seventeen. 

The  skin  is  smooth,  thick,  adipose,  and  lubricated  by  a  mucous 
secretion.  The  color  is  a  dingy  greenish  brown  above,  and  dirty 
white  below.  The  flesh  is  very  rich  and  gelatinous,  and  not  dissimilar 
either  in  quality  or  flavor  to  that  of  the  Eel.  In  some  places  it  is 
esteemed  a  great  delicacy.  All  the  Cat-fish  are  greedy  biters,  and 
will  take  almost  any  animal  substance  as  a  bait.  After  being  booked, 
however,  although  they  are  powerful  fish,  and  pull  hard  for  a  while, 
it  is  yet  a  dead  lug  entirely,  unlike  the  lively  and  fierce  resistance  of 
the  Trouts  and  Pearches ;  and  they  afford  in  truth  very  little  real 
sport  to  the  angler. 

Seven  species  of  this  fish  are  quoted  by  M.  Le  Sueur,  as  belonging 
to  Lakes  Erie,  Ontario,  and  their  tributary  waters,  besides  many  other 
varieties  in  the  southern  and  western  waters,  where  it  grows  to  a  yet 
more  enormous  size. 

There  is,  however,  so  little  difference  either  in  the  appearance  or 
habits  of  this  filthy,  mud-loving  and  hideous  fish,  that  the  description 
of  one  species  must  serve  for  all. 

The  cut  at  the  head  of  this  paper  represents  the  great  Cat-fish,  or 
Hurpn  Pimelode. 

The  Silurus  Glanis,  Sly  Silurus,  or  Sheat-fish,  is  the  largest  fresh- 


mttmmSm 


184 


AMKRICAN  riSHBIt 


water  fish  of  Europe,  growing,  it  ig  said,  to  six  feot  in  length,  and 
attaining  to  three  hundred  weight. 

Dr.  Smith  includes  this  species  of  Silurus  in  the  fishes  of  Massa- 
ohusotto,  and  Dr.  Flint  attributes  it  to  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  both 
ovidently  confounding  it  with  the  various  indigenous  Pimclodes,  which 
it  greatly  resembles.  It  differs  from  the  American  Pimelodes  in  hav- 
ing the  anal  fin  extremely  long,  extending  almost  the  whole  distance 
from  the  extremity  of  the  ventral  U  the  origin  of  the  caudal  fin 


'/    . 

"-   ^ 

■■%fi:; 

^SS^K 

\ 


ANOCILLIDiC. 


APODAL 
MALACOPTERTOII. 


AXOUr     ID^ 


THE  EEL. 


Anguilla ;  Auctorum. 

Although  I  in  no  respect  regard  the  Eel  as  worthy  of  the  notice 
of  the  angler,  a  volume  on  fish  and  fishing  would  be  incomplete,  had 
it  not  some  allusion  to  this  singular  fish,  which  is,  moreover,  very 
excellent  on  the  table. 

The  family  to  which  it  belongs  is  of  a  different  order  from  any 
which  have  been  enumerated,  that  of  the  apodal  Malacopterygiiy  or 
soft-finned  fishes,  destitute  of  ventrals.  They  have  slender  and  elon- 
gated bodies,  without  apparent  scales,  these  being  deeply  imbedded  in 
mucous  skin.  Gill-covers  they  have  none,  the  gill-openings  are  small, 
before,  and  rather  below  the  origin  of  the  pectoral  fins.  The  dorsal 
fin  extends  above  two-thirds,  and  the  anal  above  one-half  the  length 
of  the  whole  fish,  both  united  at  the  end,  and  forming  a  tail.  The 
lateral  line  exhibits  a  series  of  mucous  orifices. 

The  general  color  is  hair-brown,  varying  to  glossy  bluish  green, 
13 


160 


AMERICAN  PISH£8. 


abovc«  nnrl  coppory-ycllow  varying  to  silvor-whito  below,  nccordinjj  to 
tho  purity  and  brightness  of  the  waters  which  they  inhabit. 

Th»'y  inoy  bo  taken  with  a  hook  and  angle-worm,  but  it  is  a  nasty, 
Jilimy  bui«in(!HH,  and  affords  no  sport  to  compensate  tho  diHcgrceablo 
nature  of  tho  labor.  The  Eel-epoar,  tho  set-line,  or  the  Eel-pot,  is  the 
duo  mode  of  taking  them,  and  tUoir  truo  place  is  not  in  the  creel  of 
tUif  g<!nuino  angler,  but  on  the  board  of  the  elaborate  epicure,  en  vm- 
Ifiloltfij  or  a  la  lartare,  according  to  individtial  proforonce.  "' 

With  iliis  fish,  our  list  of  flie  soft-rayed  species  is  brought  to  a  (•lo>  % 
and  I  shjill  now  proceed  to  tho  Acantkopterygii,  or  spiny-finned  fislic;-!, 
Atnong  which  arc  several  of  our  finest  species,  both  of  tresli  and  salt- 
wiitcr,  both  for  sport  in  tho  water,  and  excellence  on  the  tabic 


PERCID^. 


187 


ACANTIIOPTEKYOII. 


rERCID.f:. 


t 


THE   AMERICAN   YELLOW  PEARCH. 

Perea  Flnveacena;  Mitchil. 

This  is  r  very  common  fish,  widely  diffussii,  with  small  vnmtioD 
of  siz3,  8hap3,  form  and  color,  through  all  the  inland  fresh  waters  of 
the  whole  United  States,  ranging  through  all  the  lakes  and  rivers  of 
the  country  from  the  eastern  part  of  Maine  to  the  waters  of  the  OJiio, 
into  which  it  has  gained  access  through  the  Ohio  Canal,  and  whence 
it  will  undoubtedly  ore  long  make  its  way  into  the  Mississippi.  There 
are  several  subordinate  varieties  of  this  fish,  which  differ  in  size,  color, 
and  slightly  also  in  the  number  of  fin  rays,  in  different  waters,  and 
those  have  been  created  into  distinct  species,  under  the  titles  of  tho 
Rou'rh  Yellow  Pearch,  Perca  Ccrrato  Granvlata ;  the  Rough- 
hoad  ?d  Yellow  Pearch,  Perca  Gramdata ;  the  Sharp-nosed  Yellow 
Pearch,  Perca  Acuta  ;  the  Slender  Yellow  Pearch,  Perca  Gracilis ; 
and  the  White  Pearch,  Perca  Pallida.  It  does  not,  however,  appear 
that  thes3  distinctions  are  sufficiently  broad  or  permanent  to  justify 
this  arrangement ;  and  it  is  now  generally  held  that  thero  is  but  on3 
species  of  true  fretiii-water  Pearch  in  the  United  States,  and  that  the 
forms  which  have  been  designated  imder  the  above  titles  arc  mere 
accidsntal  varieties,  similar  to  those  which  have  been  previously 
noticjd  of  the  common  Trout.     Originally  the  Yellow  Pearch  was  a 


188 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


northern  fish,  its  range  extending  to  about  the  fiftieth  parallel,  but  it 
has  lately,  like  several  others  of  the  same  species,  been  much  more 
widely  diffused  through  artificial  channels,  as,  for  instance,  the  Black 
Bass,  Gristes  Nigricans^  and  the  Rock  Bass,  Centrarchus  JEneuSy 
which  have  descended  from  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  by  the 
Eric  and  Whitehall  canals,  into  the  waters  of  the  upper  Hudson. 

The  Yellow  Pearch  is  a  bold  biteT,  and  a  tolerably  good  fish  on  the 
table ;  it  frequents  the  same  waters  with  the  Pickerel,  from  the  assaults 
of  which  it  is  defended  by  the  sharp  spinous  rays  of  its  dorsal  fin. 

In  color,  its  sides  are  yellow,  varying  in  intensity  from  greenish  to 
bright  golden  in  different  waters,  and  occasionally  in  tide  waters  to 
pale  greenish  white.  Its  back  is  banded  with  six  or  eight  dark  verti- 
cal bars.  Its  pectorals,  ventrals  and  anal  are  golden  orange — its 
dorsals  and  caudal  greenish  brown. 

Its  body  is  compressed,  elongated,  with  a  slightly  gibbous  dorsal 
outline.  The  scales  are  small,  the  head,  above  the  eyes  and  between 
them,  smooth,  lateral  line  concurrent  with  the  line  of  the  back.  Head 
sub-depressed,  and  in  the  larger  and  older  fish  the  rostrum  is  pro- 
duced, causing  a  hollow  in  the  facial  outline.  The  first  dorsal  com- 
mences above  the  base  of  the  pectorals,  the  first  ray  much  shorter  than 
the  second,  the  fourth,  fifth  and  sixth  rays  are  the  longest,  and  the 
last  the  shortest — it  has  in  all  thirteen  rays.  The  second  dorsal  has 
seventeen  rays,  the  two  first  spinous.  The  pectorals  have  fifteen  soft 
rays  ;  the  ventrals  have  one  spinous  and  five  soft  rays  ;  the  anal,  two 
spinous  and  eight  soft ;  the  caudal  is  forked,  with  rounded  tips. 

The  mouth  is  of  moderate  size  ;  the  preoperculum  strongly  toothed, 
the  operculum  serrated  beneath,  with  a  spine  on  its  posterior  angle, 
The  irides  are  golden  yellow — the  pupils  black.  > 

It  varies  in  weight  in  different  waters,  from  a  few  ounces  to  four  or 
five  pounds.  It  is  a  bold,  hardy  fish — is  easily  transported  from  one 
water  to  another,  and  appears  to  thrive  equally  well  on  all  soils. 

ft.  is  taken  with  the  worm  or  small  fish,  used  either  as  a  live  or 
dead  bait,  and  affords  very  fair  sport,  pulling  strongly  on  the  line  for 
a  few  minutes,  but  by  no  means  requiring  the  same  degree  of  skill  as 
the  Pearch  to  effect  its  capture.  It  is  the  favorite  fish  of  rural  anglers, 
where  Pickerel  do  not  abound,  and  is  esteemed  a  great  delicacy  where 
Bca-fish  cannot  be  obtained. 


PERCIDJE. 


18G 


AOANTHOPTERYGU. 


PERCIDX 


THE   STRIPED   SEA   BASS. 

Rock  Fish;  Bar-Fish;  Richardeou. — Labrax  Linealus ;  Cuvier. 

This  noble  fish,  which,  after  the  Salmon  family,  is  unquestionably 
the  most  sporting  fish  of  this  continent,  has  its  geographical  range 
from  the  Capes  of  the  Delaware,  in  which  river  it  is  known  as  the 
Rock  Fish,  to  the  coasts  of  Massachusetts  ;  unless,  as  I  think  almost 
certain,  the  Bar-Fish  of  Richardson,  which  is  taken  in  the  St.  Law- 
rence, prove  to  be  merely  an  accidental  variety. 

The  Striped  Bass  is  properly  a  sea  fish,  entering  the  rivers  in  the 
spring  to  spawn,  at  which  time  he  runs  as  high  up  the  courses  as  the 
depth  of  water  will  permit,  and  lies  among  the  bushes  where  the  chan- 
nels are  narrow.  They  run  far  up  the  Hudson — are  taken  at  the 
foot  of  the  Cohoes  Falls  of  the  Mohawk  in  great  numbers,  and  ascend 
yet  higher  up  the  cold,  clear  waters  of  the  Delaware. 

In  September  and  October  they  run  along  the  coast  in  large  schulls, 
entering  the  inlets,  and  being  taken  in  great  numbers  between  the 
outer  bars  and  the  beach  by  the  sean.  In  the  heaviest  surfs  of  the 
Atlantic,  on  the  outer  ocean  beaches,  they  are  captured  of  great  size 
with  a  bone  or  metal  squid.  They  are  a  bold,  ravenous  and  powerful 
fish,  biting  voraciously  at  almost  every  sort  of  bait,  from  soft  crabs 
and  clams,  on  a  drop-line,  to  shiners  or  sparlings  on  trolling  tackle. 
Shad-roe  in  rivers  frequented  by  that  fish  in  the  spring  of  the  year, 
and  even  the  artificial  fly  of  large  size  and  gaudy  colors,  with  which, 
at  the  end  of  a  hundred  yards  of  line,  they  afford  great  sport,  being 
vigorous,  fierce  and  active,  nor  succumbing  until  after  a  long  and 
violent  conflict  with  their  captors. 

In  winter,  when  the  weather  becomes  cold  and  stormy,  they  again 
enter  the  estuaries  of  rivers,  and  imbed  themselves  in  the  mud  of  the 
brackish  bays  and  lagoons,  which  possess  the  advantage  of  being  calm 
and  undisturbed  by  the  tempests  which  vex  the  open  sea. 

They  attain  to  a  very  great  size,  even,  I  believe,  to  seventy  or 


'mmmm 


190 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


eighty  pounds'  weight,  though  I  have  never  myself  seen  one  of  above 
forty-three  ;  the  smaller  sized  fish,  of  seven  or  eight  -pounds,  are, 
however,  by  far  the  most  delicate,  and  I  think  those  not  exceeding 
fifteen  pounds  give  the  best  sport  to  the  angler. 

In  color,  the  Striped  Bass  is  bluish  brown  above,  silvery  on  the 
sides  and  beneath.  Along  each  side  are  from  seven  to  nine  equidis- 
tant dark,  parallel  stripes,  the  upper  series  terminating  at  the  base 
of  the  caudal,  and  the  lower  above  the  anal  fin.  These  lines  are 
occasionally  indistinct,  sometimes  interrupted,  and  more  rarely  each 
alternately  a  continuous  stripe  and  a  row  of  abbreviated  lines  or  dots ; 
this  appears  to  be  the  form  which  Dr.  Richardson  has  designated  as 
the  Bar-Fish  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  '' 

The  body  is  cylindrical  and  tapering.  Head  and  body  covered 
with  large  adhesive  scales.  Lateral  lino  obvious,  running  through  the 
fourth  stripe,  and  nearly  straight.  Head  bluntly  pointed ;  eyes  large  ; 
nostrils  double ;  gill  openings  large ;  lower  jaw  the  longest ;  teeth  numer- 
ous on  the  maxillaries,  palatine  bone  and  tongue  ;  operculum  armed 
with  two  spines  on  its  lower  margin,  the  preoperculum  finely  dentated. 

The  first  dorsal  consists  of  nine  spinous  rays,  of  which  the  first  and 
the  last  are  shortest.  A  simple  ray  occurs  between  this  and  the 
«econd  dorsal,  which  consists  of  twelve  branched  rays.  The  pectoral 
fins  have  sixteen  rays  ;  the  ventrals  one  spinous  and  five  soft  rays  ; 
the  anal  three  spinous  and  eleven  soft ;  the  caudal,  which  is  broadly 
lunate  in  shape,  has  seventeen  bonded  rays. 

The  pupils  are  black,  the  irides  silvery. 

Altogether  it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  as  well  as  the  most  excel- 
lent and  sporting  of  American  game  fish,  the  flesh  being  very  firm, 
white  and  well-flavored. 


There  are  two  other  species  of  Bass,  the  Lnhrax  Rufus,  and  iMhrax 
Pallidus,  or  Ruddy,  and  little  White  Bass,  which  are  better  known, 
both  to  anglers  and  epicures,  as  the  River  Pearch  of  New  York,  and 
White  Pearch.  They  are  both  taken  in  the  brackish  waters  of  tide 
rivers,  and  afford  fair  sport  to  the  angler,  as  well  as  being  a  very  deli- 
cate pan-fish 


"•  Co 

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7  ■El 

.  -o 


^     a: 


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5    m 


oo 


190 


^  .'HX'AtX'KS    fl'»Hi:^. 


f^^u     ..viv '     vr- jjt'tiL,  th«>!(gli  1  jiavc  nvn'i  )ny^f\i  -f-ih  '^■ui*  ul  above 
fMiirf-  ,     :;,..i  ;!iu%ll.;'r  sized  ti->Ii,  of  cf.'V;'!.-  --r   v>^lu  '^/>wiir-,.  anj, 

!i' ■  .   -.ir  tho  >i](>?!t   (Iclic-v)-,  .'tu'l  J   think   *ij<.»y'  -!«»■'<  ^.tftoi'iiiiij.' 

Id.  •.\*4krii',  the  htj-i])')(l  B:,i>»  b  bUurfli  l)ro>Tij  yb^VH,  ;-jilTvi?»  nv,  tl>:; 
■Mf^.'.*  unci  bcucrtih,  Along  each  siile  are  fiuin  sevou  to  r.Uu'.  i.<jui'Ii.»- 
invJ,  (inrk,  jinmll"!  suip.'9,  tlu'!  upper  scri  .'S  tcrmiuiiti'it:  ut  tho  bnrt^^ 
-'f  tin;  «.'uu(lal,  and  the  \o\vov  aliove  tlic  dual  fin.  Tlu'so  llnr^  are 
occusiidnilly  iii'li.-itijict,  fcioiiictinios  intcrruptiM.1,  ami  mure  ranily  t-^-h 
alloniateJy  a  lioutimioiLi  Hiripo  and  a  vow  ol."  abbreviated  lines  or  dots ; 
tliis  appeavK  to  be  tlio'  ibria  wbidi  Di-.  Hichardsou  luiri  disignatod  as 
tha  Bar*Fis'li  of  tlio  St.  Lawrence . 

The  body  is  cylindrioal  and  tap:n'i)ig.  Ilond  and  body  covonid 
with  laig('  adhf.'^^ivi'  si'alew.  J.,ati'ral  lii;'.-  i.hvioMs,  vanning  flnuuLdi  tb(i 
lunr'.h  stiijH',  and  near!}'  8trnight.  Head  bluntly  pointed  ;  cyrf<  h\v<n- ; 
nobtiils«loidile  ;  triU opi:ni!!j.i;s  larup. ;  loWiT  jaw  tlit'  longest ;  teeth  nunior- 
(.tu.«  (-U  the  li.axiJhM'wv-.,  pal;  LJu)  bitue  iir-d  ton;.ju.';  ;  operculilin  ariut^d 
with  two  rfpiui-s  *>n  •<«  l.-vci-r  Msnciriu,  tJe-  jireoperouKnn  iin-.dy  dentated. 

Tlie  1ir>«t  dorsal  consist!)  '4'  niuo  sjiinous  ray-,  <.f  wli'vh  the  fii'iit  and 
the  laot  are  jih-.frtii.st,  A  Muiple  ra;y  oceui^  ijei..w«:en  this  and  the 
second  doi.-.ii',  wliicli  con.tjijits  of  tn-lve  l^.'Oelud  raysi.  The  prevtral 
fins  h.'ivo  tjixtoen  r'.\y.T  ,  th-  v^ntral-i  <!ir'  ^:(,■;' ois.-;  ■(.■<{  fiv;  »off'MTs; 
the  ana!  fhvee  .spinous-  and  eleven  .*•  U.  ;  th...  (•■•isulal,  VihiH-h  i>  Lroadlv 
biua(e  iii  (^hapv,  has  seventeen  hranile<.1  ray.'^. 

lUe  j.iind-*  ure  black,  (he  iride,«  silvery. 

Altogetlier  it  js  one  ..f  the  niont  beaulifu!  ns  •>.  ;!  as  the  most  cxeol- 
1  r,*  Jini  spovtia."  "f  American  .frame  fiyh,  the  flesh  boinfc  v>ry  jbni, 
'.vhiti   arid  W(dl-fla vurcd. 


'i.r 


Thci'f  .Si  r  itvi)  oth''^!  ..p<H'lt'i+ of  BuxSH,  the  fMhrai  Bnfi'^,  nun  f'.obi 
PnUio'.ia,  ..c  R?:ddy,  arid  Kttlo  White  Ua-;-,  whi'-b  are  bi-tter  known, 
both  to  angler*  ft?id  cpienre  ■,. as  the  River  Peareh  of  New  V'-ik,  an^l 
VVhiti;  Pear'dr  rh-T  are  l-.ib  taken  in  the  braeki.sh  water;!  of  itiie 
rivers,  and  aflbtv!  f'Sr  -•'port  to  tin'  ansrler,  a;*  well  ar?  hein-'  ii  very  deli- 
eat"  pan-fi.sh 


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PERCID^. 


191 


Dr.  DjKay  also  enumerates  another  fish  of  this  genus,  as  the  giuall 
Black  Bass,  Lahrax  Nigricans^  which  he  describes  as  being  found  in 
various  ponds  of  Queens  and  Suffolk  Counties,  Long  Island,  rarely 
attaining  to  two  pounds  in  weight,  being  esteemed  very  good  eating, 
and  rising  freely  to  the  fly. 

I  have  never  myself  seen  this  fish,  but  have  great  doubts  whether  it 
is  moru  than  a  casual  variety  of  the  Black  Bass  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
the  Centrarchus  Fasciatus  of  DeKay,  the  Iluro  Nigricans  of  Cuvier 
and  Richardson,  and  more  properly  the  Gristes  Nigricans  of  Agassiz ; 
for,  although  this  is  improperly  distinguished  into  two  fishes  by  Dr. 
DeKay,  it  is  in  fact  but  one  I  have  never  heard,  it  is  true,  of  tlr; 
existence  of  the  St.  Lawrence  Bass  in  the  waters  of  the  State  of  Nov/ 
York  south  of  Champlain,  prior  to  the  opening  of  the  canals,  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that,  like  the  Pearch,  it  might  easily  be  transported 
from  one  to  another  locality  by  artificial  means. 

There  is  yet  another  variety,  the  White  Lake  Bass,  Lahroz  Alhidus^ 
which  is  taken  readily  with  the  hook  in  Lake  Erio,  and  known  at 
Buffalo,  where  it  is  much  esteemed  as  an  article  of  food,  as  the  White 
Bass. 

None  of  these  are,  however,  sufSciently  important  to  merit  more 
particular  notice. 


102 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


ACANTHOPTEBTOII. 


PEBCID^. 


til! 


M.   ,-,  « 


THE  YELLOW  PIKE  PEARCH. 


AMERICAN    SANDRE. 


liHeioperca  Americana ;  Cuvier. 


THB   OHIO   PIKE,   OLA8B-EYE,   YELLOW   PIKE,   OHIO   BALHOK 


This  bold  and  voracious  fish  I  have  never  seen,  though  it  ta 
abundant  from  the  western  part  of  the  State  of  New  York  to  the 
waters  of  the  Ohio,  the  great  lakes  and  the  rivers  of  the  fur  countries, 
up  to  the  58th  parallel  of  latitude.  It  affords  great  sport  to  the 
angler,  being  readily  taken  with  the  hook,  with  almost  any  live  or 
dead  fish  bait,  though  it  is  said  to  prefer  the  common  fresh  water 
Cray-fish,  Astacus  Bartont,  according  to  Dr.  DeKay,  whose  account 
of  this  fish  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  borrowing  from  his  Fauna  of 
New  York  : 

"  The  best  time  for  fishing  is  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  with  a 
great  length  of  line,  keeping  the  bait  in  gentle  motion.  The  foot  of 
rapids  or  beneath  milldams  appears  to  be  its  favorite  haunts.  In  the 
heat  of  summer  it  seeks  the  deepest  parts  of  lakes,  or  in  streams  in 
the  coolest  places  under  weeds  or  grass.     It  is  esteemed  one  of  the 


PERCIDA. 


193 


most  valuable  fishes  of  the  western  waters,  in  which  it  grently  abounds, 
and  sells  rea^"^  i'ur  a  high  price.  It  spawns  in  Lake  Huron  in  April 
or  May,  and  has  been  taken  of  the  length  of  thirty  inches. 

^'  Its  color  is  yellowish  olive  above  the  lateral  line ;  lighter  on  the 
sides ;  silvery  beneath.  Head  and  gill-covers  mottled  with  green, 
brownish  and  white.  Chin  pale  flesh-color.  Pupil  dark  and  vitreous, 
irides  mottled  with  black  and  yellowish.  Membrane  of  the  spinous 
dorsal  fin  transparent,  with  a  few  dark  dashes ;  the  upper  part  of  the 
membrane  tipped  with  black.  Soft  dorsal  fin  light  yellowish,  spotted 
with  brown  in  irregular  longitudinal  bars.  Ventral  fins  transparent 
yellowish  ;  pectoral  fins  yellowish  olive,  with  brownish  bars.  Anal  fin 
I  I  transparent  yellowish,  with  a  broad  whitish  margin  ;  caudal  fin  with 

irregular  dusky  bars. 

"  The  body  is  elongated,  cylindrical  and  tapering.  Scales  of 
moderate  size,  lateral  line  straight  from  the  upper  edge  of  the  gill- 
covers  to  the  tail.  Preoperculum  serrated  with  a  series  of  distant 
spines.  Opercle  with  one  slender  flat  terrinal  spine,  beyond  which  is 
a  pointed  membrane.  Branchial  rays,  seven.  Mouth  wide  extensi- 
ble, the  lower  jaws  received  into  the  upper.  A  series  of  acute  re- 
curved teeth  in  both  jaws,  and  on  the  vomer  and  palatines.  Two 
very  long  and  conspicuous  teeth,  resembling  canines,  in  front  of  each 
'  jaw  ;  those  of  the  lower  received  into  cavities  above.  Teeth  on  the 
vomer  minute.  Tongue  smooth,  pointed,  free.  The  first  dorsal  fin 
is  composed  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  long  slender  spinous  rays  ;  the 
second  dorsal  has  one  short,  simple,  subspinous  ray,  and  twenty-one 
soft  rays  ;  the  pectorals  have  fourteen  soft  rays ;  the  ventrals  one 
stout  spine  and  five  branched  rays  ;  the  anal  one  spine  and  fourteen 
rays  ;  the  caudal  is  deeply  furcate,  and  has  seventeen  distinct,  beside 
many  accessory  rays." 

This  fish  is  a  true  Pearch,  though  its  form,  elongated  mouth,  and 
fiercely  predatory  habits  suggest  the  idea  of  a  Pike,  whence  Dr.  De- 
Kay  has  given  it  the  appellation  of  Pike  Pearch,  which  is  a  translation 
of  its  classical  name,  in  preference  to  the  name  Sandre,  which  belongs 
to  the  Canadian  fish  of  the  same  species,  and  to  the  analogous  Euro- 
pean fishes. 


194 


AMERICAN    riBHkii. 


The  Gray  Pike  Pearch,  Ludoperca  Gritea,  would  Beem  to  bo  u 
pormanent  variety  of  the  above,  if  not  a  distinct  species ;  it  differs 
from  it  in  size,  never  exceeding  ten  or  twelve  inches,  in  color  and 
iQvcral  other  important  particulars.  It  is  found  in  the  same  waters 
Vfith  the  preceding  species,  and  is  equally  prized  as  an  article  of  food. 


Richardson's  Pike  Pearch,  the  Canadian  Sandre,  Ludoperca 
CoTuidensiSf  is  another  small  distinct  species,  found  in  the  river  St. 
I<8.wrence.  Its  principal  characteristic  difference  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  operculum  has  five  acute  spines  on  the  lower  margin.  In  color 
it  is  dark  olive  green  above,  and  whitish  beneath,  with  a  few  pale- 
veP.ow  spots  on  the  sides  below  the  lateral  line.  It  does  not  exceed 
fourteen  inches  in  length.  It  is,  like  the  others  of  its  species,  es^^emed 
.lb  excellent  fish  on  the  table,  and,  being  a  free  biter  and  hard  puller, 
affords  good  sport  to  the  angler.  It  is  not,  however,  of  so  great  im- 
oortaiice  that  I  care  to  enter  into  a  more  minute  description. 

This  18  the  fish  concerning  which  a  controversy  has  been  goirg  on 
between  "  Dinks  "  and  some  Western  fishermen,  who  insist  oi  cdling 
it  a  Pike,  as  distinct  from  Pickerel.  It  is  a  true  Pearch,  and  hos  no 
connexion  with  anv  of  the  Pike  family. 


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llCR((D<t:. 


19& 


A.JANTll<il''rKR\i;tl. 


i'khoida:. 


T!l  i:    II  1.  A«K    li  ASS 

0»     llli:  «V.    I.AWKKVCE, 
Uuro  ,\i'T<  rau.i !  (.'iivi(>r.-  Onhwehi-*  l\t >■  iatuM  :  i*i>Koy. — (fritta  \i/t,,ititnM: 

Tm*i  is  Olio  nf  tliM  liac',<'t  of  tin*  'iu<  ricau  fr^•■>b-»•»^.•r  tUhix  ;  it  i> 
suipa.>>"l  ity  uono  in  Ivililnccfj  f.f  lutiUv',  \n  fierce  nod  »»<')-nt  rt'»t.»'t«uci 
wlkfu  haokc'l,  .mil  ])y  :i  v  .-ry  few  only  in  .  «<n'lli)U«5i>  npoa  tho  b'urd 

Peculiar  DiiginuUy  ti>  the  Uiwn  i.t"  ihn  St  I,:i\vjeu«»>,  ii»  wb»t;i»  it- 
ttbouijili*  fioui  tho  Falls  nf  .\i)»;»iiia  .i.>Wiiwai'<l,  if  nol  tjnougb  »(»  whoK* 
couf8(!,  it  Ims  inuii'  it;'  way  into  tij  wat-Mn  t"  tin"  iipp  r  lliul«>u, 
Ihrott'Jj  fho  canals.  It,  i.s  said  l»y  l)i'.  DcKnv  to  h^-  t'ouiid  jiiui'ruliy  in 
tliM  .suiiill  l.iki-s  lit"  the  Statf^»  of  Now  York,  but  1  ('rmoliKl('  that  thi?' 
must  I)  >  liuiit'd  to  tliosr  wlii»;h  coiamnnicati)  witli  tli  ■  j^jviit  Ittlics  or 
the  St.  l,,awrouci'.  It  i.-t  t;ikeu  ubuu'luntly  in  Lako.  I'hainphiiii,  but  it 
irt  in  tbi-  .swift  glancing  wati-ns  of  tlio  wSt.  LawnnuM',  among  the.  ('Xi|ui- 
silc  .'•cen.ry  of  tli:^  Thousand  Islands,  that  it  aft'ords  tbo  greutast  sport 
to  the  angler. 

It  bites  ravenously  at  a  small  fi.'»h  or  f«plnning-tn;klt(,  or  at  the  doadly 
and  niurlerou-H  .«poon,  an  instrum  ntt  S'^  lujrtaitily  du.*itrucliv<'  that  the 
oso  of  it  is  properly  di.scouragcd  by  all  t.i'u  aii/brrt.  a.s  poaching  and 
unspo'-tsanianlike. 

'l'!i!^  tin(wt  sport  c;iii  bii  had,  liowt  voi ,  .vith  a  louc  U,!.fUt  Salinon-liu;/, 
trcblL'-tvyi^t-vnl  gut,  lo  df^fy  it-i  nunior"a«  and  osci'wtlingiy  acute  tooth, 
and  a  la'.tri  l!>  -.^riiii  m  ixidy  of  f^carlet  oh' mi  and  four  \viu;tr.s,  two  of 
th:-  silv 'r  pU..:n  jatil  Jvn  I  two  tf  the  -'arlot  ibis.  A.s  tin  Rlitek  IJa-s.** 
attains  to  the  vtvl^jiit  '^f'six  or  fiifht  pound?*,  an<.  is  rx'<'ll.il  \u  vittor, 
spi>od  jitid  agilityonly  ov  the  Brook  Trout,  the  Salmoii  Tioiit  ui  i  '\v- 
Trxi^  Sdaion,  tlio  Rport  n-hioh  he  affords  when  thus  hook  .il  <'.'.n  b- 
Vi^ry  r'\i<lilj  iiiuigin-d  ;  nor  can  hp  be  broujht  ti;  the  lia-skot  by  an)  • 
thing  short  .)t'  the  bi\st  taekl),  and  (],<■.  most  d -li-'ato  ajid  mast c^rl^o 
rnanip;i]>»tion. 

In  color,  this  li.sh  i«  of  a  du.sky  blui;?h  black,  sou);>ti.");!S  vtiih  H.iiw»»:' 


^Vf' 


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00 


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iXX 


fi) 


PERCID>K. 


195 


AOANTHOPTERYGII. 


PERCIUiG. 


THE  BLACK  BASS 


OF  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE. 


Hiiro  Nigricans;  Cavier. — Centrarchua  Faaciatua;  DeKay. — Oriateo  Nigricans; 

Agossiz. 

This  is  one  of  the  finest  of  the  American  fresh-water  fishes;  it  is 
surpassed  by  none  in  boldness  of  biting,  in  fierce  and  violent  resistance 
when  hooked,  and  by  a  very  few  only  in  excellence  upon  the  board. 

Peculiar  originally  to  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  in  which  it 
abounds  from  the  Falls  of  Niagara  downward,  if  not  through  its  whole 
course,  it  has  made  its  way  into  the  waters  of  the  upper  Hudson, 
through  the  canals.  It  is  said  by  Dr.  DeKay  to  be  found  generally  in 
the  small  lakes  of  the  State  of  New  York,  but  I  conclude  that  this 
must  be  limited  to  those  which  communicate  with  the  great  lakes  or 
the  St.  Lawrence.  It  is  taken  abundantly  in  Lake  Champlain,  but  it 
is  in  the  swift  glancing  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  among  the  exqui- 
site scenery  of  the  Thousand  Islands,  that  it  affords  the  greatest  sport 
to  the  angler.  "  * 

It  bites  ravenously  at  a  small  fish  or  spinning-tackle,  or  at  the  deadly 
and  murderous  spoon,  an  instrument  so  certainly  destructive  that  the 
use  of  it  is  properly  discouraged  by  all  true  anglers  as  poaching  and 
unsportsmanlike . 

The  finest  sport  can  be  had,  however,  with  a  long  light  Salmon-line, 
treble-twisted  gut,  to  defy  its  numerous  and  exceedingly  acute  teeth, 
and  a  large  fly,  with  a  body  of  scarlet  chcnil  and  four  wings,  two  of 
the  silvor  pheasant  and  two  of  the  scarlet  ibis.  As  the  Black  Bass 
attains  to  the  weight  of  six  or  eight  pounds,  and  is  excelled  in  vigor, 
speed  and  agility  only  by  the  Brook  Trout,  the  Salmon  Trout  and  the 
True  Salmon,  the  sport  which  he  affords  when  thus  hooked  can  bo 
very  readily  imagined  ;  nor  can  he  be  brought  to  the  basket  by  any- 
thing short  of  the  best  tackle,  and  the  most  delicate  and  masterly 
manipulation. 

In  color,  this  fish  is  of  a  dusky  bluish  black,  sometimes  with  bronze 


106 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


reflections,  the  under  parts  bluish  white,  the  cheeks  and  gill-covers 
nacrous  of  a  bluish  color. 

The  body  is  compressed.  Back  arched  and  gibbous.  Profile  de- 
scending obliquely  to  the  rostrum,  which  is  moderately  prolonged. 
Scales  large,  truncated.  Sca,Ies  on  the  operculum  large ;  a  single 
series  on  the  suboperculum,  much  smaller  on  the  prcoperculum,  ascend- 
ing high  up  on  the  membrane  of  the  soft  dorsal  and  caudal  fins.  Eyes 
large ;  nostrils  double.  Operculum  pointed,  with  a  loose  membrane. 
The  lower  jaw  is  somewhat  longest.  The  jaws  are  smooth  and  scale- 
less.  Both  jaws  are  armed  with  a  broad  patch  of  minute  conic  awute 
reserved  teeth.  An  oblong  patch  of  rasp-like  teeth  on  the  vomer, 
and  a  band  of  the  same  kind  on  the  palatines.  Branchial  arches 
minutely  toothed.     Pharyngeal  teeth  in  rounded  patches. 

The  dorsal  fin  is  composed  of  nine  stout  spines ;  the  second  dorsal 
of  one  spine  and  fourteen  soft  rays.  The  pectorals  have  eighteen  soft 
rays,  the  ventrals  one  spine  and  five  soft  rays,  the  anals  three 
spines,  and  twelve  soft  rays,  and  the  caudal  sixteen  soft  rays.  " 

*It  is  somewhat  doubtful  to  me  whether  the  fish  known  in  the  waters 
of  Lake  Erie  and  those  generally  above  the  Falls,  as  the  Oswego  Bass, 
is  not  distinct  from  this  fish,  though  it  is  also  occasionally  called  Black 
Bass.  There  is  very  evidently  some  confusion  about  the  matter,  as  1 
am  well  assured  that  another  fish  of  the  same  family,  the  Corvina  Os- 
cultty  is  at  times  confounded  with  it,  and  called  by  the  same  name, 
though  in  truth  it  but  slightly  resembles  it.  Another  fish  of  the  same 
family  is  the  Growler. 

*  Note  to  Revised  Edition. — During  a  tour,  this  autumn,  through  the  great 
lakes,  I  had  abundant  opportunities  of  learning  the  habits  of  this  fish,  which  sivarina 
in  all  the  Canadian  lakes,  though  not  found  north  of  them.  It  is  taken  in  Seuera, 
Crooked,  and  Cayuga  Lakes,  and  in  the  first  is  of  rare  excellence.  I  lean  to  the 
opinion  that  the  differences  between  this  and  tlie  Oswego  Bass  arise  merely  from 
difference  of  condition  and  feeding-grounds.  This  Bass  has,  I  understand,  been  in- 
troduced into  Lake  Mohopach,  Dutchess  Co.,  N.  Y. 

.11 


'    I 


.  ( 


PERCID^. 


197 


ACANTHOPTERVGII. 


PERCIDiG. 


THE  GROWLER. 

Griatea  Salmotidea;  Auctorum. 


Thb  White  Salmon  ;  Smith's  History  of  Virginia.- 

vincialism. 


-Thb  Trout  :  Carolina  Pro- 


Tiiis  fish,  in  general  form,  closely  corresponds  with  that  last  de- 
scribed. It  has  the  same  gibbous  back,  with  the  lateral  line  following 
the  dorsal  curve,  and  the  same  protruded  lower  jaw.  Its  teeth  are  set 
minutely  in  broad  bands  or  patches.  The  operculum  has  two  mode- 
rate points. 

Its  color  is  deep  greenish  brown,  with  a  bluish  black  spot  on  the 
poinc  of  the  operculum.  When  young  it  has  twenty-five  or  thirty  lon- 
gitudinal brownish  bands,  which  become  effaced  by  age. 

The  first  dorsal  fin  has  ten  spines,  the  second  thirteen  or  fourteen 
soft  rays ;  the  pectorals  sixteen  soft  rays ;  the  ventrals  one  spine  and 
five  soft  rays  ;  the  anal  three  spines  and  eleven  or  twelve  soft  rays  ; 
the  caudal  fin,  which  is  slightly  lunate,  has  seventeen  soft  rays. 

There  may,  perhaps,  be  two  distinct  varieties  of  this  fish.  It  hai? 
been  taken  in  the  waters  of  Western  New  York,  in  the  Wabash  in 
Indiana,  and  abundantly  in  Carolina,  where  it  attains  to  the  length  of 
two  feet,  and  is  considered  an  excellent  fish,  passing,  as  well  af< 
another  fish  of  the  same  family,  the  Carolina  Weak-fish,  Otolithus 
Carolinensisj  under  the  misnomer  of  Trout.  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
that  this  fish  is  also  known  as  the  Welchman  in  the  inland  waters  of 
North  Carolina.     It  is  also  the  Salmon  of  the  Susquehannah. 

Before  passing  on  to  the  next  species  I  will  observe  that  I  consider 
the  proper  classical  name  of  the  Black  Bass  of  the  St.  Lawrence  deci- 
dedly to  be  Gristes — the  genus  Huro  not  having  been  by  any  means 
satisfactorily  defined.  For  that  of  Centrarchus  is  distinguished  by 
having  many  spinous  rays  to  the  ventral  fin,  while  the  genus  Gristes 
has  but  three,  Perca  two,  and  Lucioperca  only  one — this  affording  a 
broad  and  clear  distinction,  and  being  that  on  which  Agassiz  founds  the 
subgenus  in  question. 


198 


AMERICAN   FISHE^. 


ACANTHOPTERYOII. 


PEROID^. 


i 


THE  KOCK   BASS. 

'  FRESH    WATER    BASS.  ' 

Centrarchua  Mneua ;  Cuvier. 

This  is  another  delicate  and  game  fish,  which,  originally  peculiar 
to  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  has  made  its  way  through  the  canals 
into  the  upper  waters  of  the  Hudson  and  the  anastomosing  streams. 
It  is  abundant  in  the  great  lakes,  and  Lake  Champlain. 

It,  like  the  Black  Bass,  is  a  bold  biter,  taking  a  small  fish  dead  or 
alive  very  freely,  but  preferring  to  all  other  baits  the  Cray-fish,  Asta-- 
cu$  Bartoni. 

The  general  color  of  this  fish  is  a  dark  coppery  bronze  above,  with 
green  reflections,  the  head  above  dark  green,  gill-covers  metallic  green, 
with  a  dark  spot  on  the  posterior  margin  of  the  operculum.  The  sides 
golden  copper,  with  several  rows  of  oblong  dark  spots  below  the  lateral 
line.     The  fins  bluish  green. 

The  body  is  compressed,  short  and  broad.  The  dorsal  outline  gib- 
bous ;  the  lataral  line  following  the  curve  of  the  back.     Head  large, 


/ 


\^ 


fSRCIDJE 


199 


\ 


with  a  concave  outline.  Gill-covers  scaly ;  the  operculum  with  rudi- 
ments of  a  double  angle  on  the  posterior  margin ;  lower  jaw  somewhat 
the  longest.  Teeth  small,  conical,  recurved,  on  the  maxillarics,  inter- 
maxillaries,  vomer)  palatines  and  pharyngeals. 

The  dorsal  fin  has  eleven  spinous  and  twelve  soft  rays  ;  the  pecto- 
rals fourteen  rays ;  the  ventrals  one  weak  spine  and  five  branched 
rays;  the  anal,  six  spinous  and  eleven  soft  rays;  the  caudal  with 
rounded  tips  has  seventeen  rays. 

The  Rock  Bass  is  excellent  eating,  and  gives  good  sport  to  tiie 
angler,  though  it  never  attains  to  the  size  of  the  Black  Bass,  rarely 
exceeding  a  pound  or  a  pound  and  a  half,  and  consequently  being  far 
less  difiicult  to  take. 

This  fish,  as  well  as  the  Black  Bass  and  others  of  the  family,  might 
be  transplanted  with  great  ease  into  inland  waters ;  and  as  they  are 
hardy,  and  defended  from  all  enemies  by  their  sharp  and  spiny  fins 
would  be  sure  to  thrive,  and  would  prove  delicious  additions  to  our 
lacustrine  species  of  fi.she5. 


•"J 


mn^mmfmm 


200 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


ACANTHOPTERYGII. 


PEROID^ 


ji&/S/'. 


THE  COMMON   POND  FISH. 


FRESH    WATER    SUN    FISH 


Pomotia  Vulgaris. — Cuvier. 


Th:s  beautiful  little  fish  has  gained  its  provincial  name  from  the 
ixtreme  brilliancy  of  its  colors  when  disporting  itself  in  the  sunshine 
The  numerous  spots  on  its  body  have  procured  for  it  the  absurd  name 
)f  Pumpkin-seed  in  many  States,  and  in  Massachusetts  it  is  known  as 
Bream.  It  is  valueless  as  an  article  of  food,  and  equally  so  as  ^«  bait 
fish,  its  acute  spines  deterring  any  fish  from  seizing  it.  It  is,  however, 
a  constant  object  of  pursuit  to  boy  and  lady  angleis. 

It  has  very  many  varieties,  and  a  wide  geographical  range,  being 
found  from  Lake  Huron,  through  all  the  Eastern  States,  and  along  the 
Atlantic  coast  so  far  south  as  Carolina. 

Its  color  is  greenish  olive  above,  with  irregular  points  of  red  and 
broader  yellow  or  reddish  brow:i  spots  disposed  in  Vi>ry  irregular  lines 
Ranges  of  brighter  spots  on  the  bluish  operculam,  and  on  the  hindei 
prolongation  of  the  operculum  a  black  spot  with  a  bright  scarlet  margin. 

Its  body  is  much  compressed,  very  broad,  oval.  Scales  large  and 
even.     Forehead  sloping  ^o  the  snout.     Lateral  line  concurrent  with 


PERCIUA 


201 


the  back.  Eyen  large,  circular  near  the  facial  outline.  Nostrilf 
double ;  mouth  small,  with  very  minute  thicknset  teeth  on  the  maxil<- 
laries,  palatines  and  vomer. 

its  dorsal  fin  has  ten  spinous  and  twelve  soft  rays,  pectorals  twelvo 
soft,  ventrals  one  spine  and  five  soft  rays,  anal  three  spinous  and  five 
soft,  caudal  seventeen  soft  rays. 

There  is  another  weli-dofinsd  species,  the  Black-eared  Pond-fish, 
P(m.  'is  idixy  which  is  disti'-'"ii*«>he«'i  by  a  largo  lobe-like  black 

proiv._gatiou  ..  the  upper  postcrioi    agie  of  the  operculum. 


14 


209 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


ACANTHOPTERYGII. 


BCIENID^. 


THE  LAKE  SHEEP'S-HEAD. 

Corvina  Oacula ;  Cuvier. 

This  is  a  very  common  fish  in  Lake  Erie,  and  also  below  the  Falls 
of  Niagara,  wliere  it  is  readily  taken  with  the  hook,  though  it  is  in 
very  small  repute  for  its  edible  qualities,  being  commonly  reported  to 
be  dry,  lean  and  tasteless.     It  is  in  fact  very  rarely  eaten. 

Its  color  is  bluish  gray  on  the  back,  darker  on  the  abdomen  and  the 
snout.     Abdomen  and  chin  grayish  white. 

In  shape  it  considerably  resembles  the  preceding  genera,  Griste* 
and  CentrarcAuSy  having  a  gibbous  dorsal  outline,  and  arched  profile, 
the  lateral  line  being  also,  as  in  these,  concurrent  with  the  curve  of  the 
back.  The  eyes  are  large,  round  and  prominent,  situated  close  to  the 
facial  outline.  The  teeth  in  the  jaws  are  small,  conic,  and  sharp,  but 
the  palate  and  pharyngeals  are  paved  with  large  rounded  solid  teeth, 
well  adapted  for  crushing  its  hard  and  shelly  prey,  such  as  the  fresh- 
water clams  and  muscles,  cyclas  and  paludina  which  constitute  its 
principal  subsistence. 

The  dorsal  fin  has  nine  spinous  rays,  the  second  dorsal  one  spinous 
and  twenty-eight  soft  rays,  the  pectorals  nineteen  soft  rays,  the 
ventrals  one  spinous  and  five  soft,  the  anal  two  spinous  and  eight 
soft,  the  caudal,  seventeen  rays.  Its  air  bladder  is  very  large  and 
simple. 

This  fish,  if  1  am  not  greatly  in  error,  is  very  frequently  confounded 
on  the  lakes  in  the  vicinity  of  Buffalo  with  the  Gristes  Nigricans^ 
under  the  name  of  Oswego  Bass* and  in  fact,  though  of  a  diff'erent 
family,  Scienidce^  does  bear  something  of  general  resemblance  to  that 
species.  It  is  also  found  in  many  of  the  small  inland  lakes  throughout 
the  country.  ' 

*  It  is  more  probable,  however,  that  there  is  no  true  distinction  between  the 
Black  and  Oswego  Bass,  save  in  the  difference  of  condition 


1* 


% 


SCIENIDA. 


2U3 


AOANTHOPTEBYQIl 


SCIENID^ 


THE  MALASHEGANAY. 

Corvina  Richardaonii ;  Cay'mt 

This,  like  the  species  la&t  named,  is  an  inhabitant  of  the  upper 
lakes,  though  it  is  not  found  below  Lake  Erie.  In  Lake  Huron  it  is 
known  as  the  Sheep^s-heady  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Buffalo  as  the  Black 
SAeep^s-hend. 

It  affords  very  prood  sport  to  the  angler,  and  unlike  its  congener  last 
described,  is  highly  prized  as  one  of  the  most  delicious  of  the  lake 
fishes. 

Its  color  is  greenish  gray,  banded  with  dusky  or  blackish  bars  over 
the  back,  its  sides  are  silvery,  its  belly  yellowish.  In  form  it  closely 
resembles  the  Corvina  Oscula,  but  its  forehead  descends  in  a  more 
vertical  angle  to  the  mouth.  The  under  jaw  is  somewhat  the  longer. 
The  mouth  is  cleft  back  as  far  as  to  the  middle  of  the  eye,  which  is 
large  and  round.  The  teeth  are  very  numerous  and  very  small.  The 
operculum  has  two  lobes  behind. 

The  first  dorsal  fin  has  nine  spinous  rays,  the  second  one  spine  and 
eighteen  soft  rays,  the  pectorals  have  fifteen  soft  rays,  the  ventrals 
one  spine  and  seven  soft  rays,  the  anal  one  spine  and  seven  soft  rays, 
the  caudal  seventeen  soft  branched  rays. 

There  is  yet  another  species  of  this  family,  the  Corvina  Griseaj 
known  familiarly  as  the  White  Pearch  of  the  Ohio,  which  is  found 
in  the  waters  of  that  noble  river,  but  it  is  of  little  importance  either 
to  the  angler  or  the  epicure,  and  merits  not  a  more  particular  descrip- 
tion. 

With  this  fish  ends  the  list  of  those  fresh-water  fishes  of  the  United 
States  and  British  Provinces,  which  by  the  most  liberal  courtesy  may 
be  called  game  or  sporting  fishes. 

Hence  I  proceed  to  the  shoal-water  sea  fishes  of  the  same  division, 
AearUhopterygii,  and  thence,  and  lastly,  to  the  deep-sea  fish  of  the  order 
Sub-brachial  Malacopterygii. 


WBWfgUIWI«.'UMiJiaUMiWH-lwawri--<«1^>jlUiH 


'M4 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


SHOAL-WATER  FISHES. 


11 


Ha VI  NO  now  come  to  the  conclusion  of  that,  by  far  the  most  impor- 
tant, portion  of  my  subject  which  relates  to  the  fresh-water  fishes, 
including  those  anadromous  or  migratory  species  which,  although  they 
make  their  abode  during  a  part  of  the  year  at  least  in  salt  water,  arc 
taken  in  sporting  style  in  rivers  and  estuaries  only,  I  shall  proceed  to 
devote  a  few  pages  only  to  these  sea  fish ;  all  of  the  division  Acanthop- 
terygii,  and  all  of  five  families,  Percidce,  ScienidtBy  SparidcCj  Scombri- 
da^  and  Labrida^  which  are  taken  in  shoal  waters  at  the  mouths  of 
large  rivers,  in  bays  and  estuaries,  and  which  not  only  afford  much 
sport  to  the  angler  at  particular  seasons  of  the  year,  but  furnish  a 
delicious  article  of  food. 

These  are  the  Sea  Bass,  or  Black  Sea  Bass,  Centropristes  Ni 
gr  leans. 
The  Lafayette,  Leiostomus  Obliquus.         '     - 
The  Weak-Fish,  Otolithus  Regalis. 
The  KiNQ-FisH,  Umbriim  Nebulosa. 

The  Silvery  Corvina,  Corvina  Argyrolmca.  "  ^ 

':   The  Branded  Corvina,  CorviTKi  Oce/^ato.   »       :  ': 
•  The  Big  Drum,  Pogonias  Chromis.   ■ 
The  Sheep's-head,  Sargus  Ovis.  ■   ,  / 

The  Porgee,  Pagrus  Argyrops. 
The  Blue-Fish,  Temnodon  Saltator. 
'    The  Tautoo — Black-Fish — Tautoga  Americana. 


W 


K 


SCIENIDA. 


305 


ACANTHOPTERYOIl. 


SCIENIDiE. 


THE   SEA    BASS. 


BLACK  SEA    BASS. 


Ceniroprittea  Nigricant !  CuTier.  '  • 

This  is  an  excellent  fish,  and  a  very  general  favorite  on  the  table 
It  is  with  us  a  summer  fish  of  passage,  in  the  Northern  States  I  mean, 
appearing  on  the  coasts  of  New  York  during  tue  months  of  May, 
Juno  and  July,  in  which  it  is  frequent  in  the  markets,  and  readily 
taken  with  the  baited  hook. 

Its  geographical  range  is  very  wide,  extending  from  the  coasts  of 
Florida  to  Cape  Cod,  on  the  shores  of  Massachusetts ;  abundant  in 
the  vicinity  of  Martha ^s  Vineyard,  it  is  rare  in  Boston  bay.  Properly 
a  southern  species,  though  it  visits  the  waters  of  the  Eastern  States 
in  summer,  it  invariably  returns  to  the  eastward  in  autumn. 

With  the  wonted  stupid  perversity  of  their  order,  the  fishermen  of 
our  coasts  have  confounded  it,  by  means  of  absurd  misnomers,  with 
two  entirely  different  species,  the  Blue  Fisii,  Temnodon  Saltatory 
and  the  Black  Fish  or  Tautoo,  Tautoga  Americana^  calling  it  com- 
monly by  both  these  appellations. 

The  color  of  the  Sea  Bass  is  a  general  blue  black,  sometimes  more 
or  less  slightly  bronzed,  the  edges  of  every  scale  are  much  darker 
than  the  prevailing  color,  which  gives  the  character  of  a  black  net- 
work on  a  bluish  ground  to  the  whole  surface  of  the  fish.  The  fins, 
excepting  the  pectoral,  are  pale  blue  ;  the  dorsal  and  anal  more  or 
less  distinctly  spotted  with  a  darker  shade  of  the  same  color. 

The  body  is  oblong  and  compressed ;  the  scales  are  of  an  oblong 
form,  covering  the  opercula  and  extending  high  up  on  the  dorsal ;  the 
preopereulum  is  distinctly  toothed  along  its  entire  margin,  the  oper- 
culiun  has  c  large  spine  on  it,  and  another  above  ;  the  teeth  are  like 
velvet  pile  on  all  the  bones,  those  on  the  outer  edges  of  the  jaws  the 
largest. 


-1miU.:Kt^M.^4\ 


909 


▲  M£1IICAN    ri«HE«. 


Th«  dorial  flu  hu  ton  low  epinoui,  and  eleven  much  more  elertted 
aofi  ny»f  the  pectorali  haye  eighteen  soft  rays,  the  yentrala  one 
•pine  and  five  soft  rays,  the  anal  three  spinei  and  seven  aoft  rays, 
the  oaadal  trilobed,  ooniiiBting  of  eighteen  soft  rays. 

Thin  fine  fiah  is  known  by  a  great  number  of  provincial  titles ;  among 
others  Dr.  DeKay  mentions  the  trivial  names  of  Black  Harry  and 
IlanahiUi. 

It  iff  a  bold  and  free  biter,  and  is  one  of  the  principal  objects  of 
pnrsnit  by  those  who  join  in  steamboat  excursions  to  what  are  called 
the  sea  banks,  off  the  port  of  New  York,  in  the  process  of  whiol 
tbsy  are  often  taken  in  considerable  numbers. 


JOIBNIOJC. 


907 


ACAMTItOrTCRYGIL 


■CI£NlDif: 


THE   LAFAYETTE 

SEA    CHUB. 
L«io$tomua  OhUquuti  Laoepede. 

This  is  a  beautiful  and  exquisite!  -flavored  little  f«h,  which  pro- 
perly belongs  to  the  southern  waters,  being  very  cr  niraon  on  the  coasts 
of  Florida,  where  it  is  much  prized  both  nr-  a  s^^crting  fish  and  as  a 
delicacy. 

New  York  is  probably  its  northern  limit,  and  in  th>  New  York 
waters  it  is  a  rare  visitant,  though  it  appears  at  times  i ;  extraordinary 
abundance. 

One  of  tde  seasons  of  its  most  remarkable  ^req'icncy  happening  to 
be  simultaneous  with  the  visit  of  Lafayette  to  America,  it  thus  obtained 
its  common  name  by  general  consent,  it  never  having  been  observed 
previous  to  that  date,  and  so  taken  for  a  new  fish,  though  it  had  in 
truth  been  defined  long  before  by  Dr.  Mitohil,  who  designated  it 
Mugil  Obliquus. 

Its  color  is  grayish  white,  with  fifteen  or  sixteen  darker  gray  bars, 
more  or  less,  pointing  obliquely  forward,  those  nearer  the  tail  more 
verti<ml ;  pupils  black,  irides  yellow,  fins  pale  yellow,  the  dorsal  and 
anal  finely  spotted  with  black.  There  is  a  round  spot  of  dark  brown 
on  the  lateral  lino  above  the  pect )? air;. 

The  first  dorsal  fin  has  nine  spinous  rays,  and  is  triangular  in  shape, 
its  fourth  and  fifth  rays  being  the  largest ;  the  second  dorsal  has  one 
spine  and  thirty  soft  rays ;  the  pectorals  twenty,  the  ventrals  fifteen 
soft  rays  ;  the  anal  has  tv/o  spines  and  twelve  soft  rays  ;  the  caudal 
has  nineteen  branched  and  articulated  rays. 

There  is  a  variety  of  this  fish,  Leiosiomus  XanthuruSj  peculiar  to 
South  Carolina,  which  has  no  spots  or  bands,  but  has  all  the  fins,  and 
more  especially  the  caudal,  yellow. 


208 


AMERICAN  riSHEfi 


ACANTHOPTER\-OII. 


SCIENlDiE. 


'  II 


THE   WEAK-FISH. 

Wheat  Fish  ;  Squeteaque,  Checouts. — Otolithua  Regalia ;  Cuvier. 

The  trivial  name  of  this  fine  fish  has  never  been  very  distinctly 
explained,  some  ascribing  the  title  "  Weak "  to  the  delicacy  of  the 
mouth,  which  when  hooked  often  tears  away  from  the  barb ;  others  to 
the  briefness  of  its  resistance  after  being  struck,  though  at  first  it 
pulls  strongly. 

Yet  a  third  explanation  is,  that  Weak  is  a  corruption  from  "  Wheat," 
because  it  comes  into  season  when  the  wheat  is  ripe  ;  this,  however,  is 
not  the  fact,  as  it  is  an  early  spring  fish,  though  taken  through  the 
summer  months  abundantly  in  the  waters  of  New  York ;  probably 
both  names.  Wheat  and  Weak,  are  really  corruptions  from  the  Narra- 
gansett  appellation  by  which  it  was  first  known  to  the  English  settlers, 
Squeteaque. 

Its  geographical  range  is  very  wide,  extending  from  New  Orleans 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  where  it  is  styled  "  Trout,"  to  the 
estuary  and  Gulf  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  It  has  also,  it  is  said,  been 
taken  at  Martinique. 

It  is  less  common  in  the  N<"  ^  York  waters  than  formerly,  being 
savagely  hunted  by  its  deadly  enemy,  the  Blue  Fish,  Temnodon  Sal- 
tatory which  has  lamentsibly  thinned  its  numbers.  Still  it  exists  in 
sufficient  numbers  to  givt  very  exciting  sport  to  the  shoal  salt-water 
angler,  and  when  quite  fri.sh  out  of  the  water  is  a  very  exquisite  fish, 
its  flavor  greatly  resembling  that  of  the  Trout,  whence  prdbably  its 
southern  misnomer.  When  it  has  been  taken  three  or  four  bours  it 
becomes  flaccid,  insipid,  and  in  fact  utterly  worthless. 

Its  color  is  bluish  gray  above,  with  irregular  lines  of  transverse  spots 
on  the  back  and  sides ;  the  head  is  greenish  blue,  the  irides  are  yellow, 
the  gill-covers  and  belly  silvery  and  nacrous,  the  chin  Salmon-colored, 
dorsal  and  caudal  fins  brown,  pectorals  pale  brownish  yellow,  ventrals 
and  anal  orange. 


SCIENIOJfe;. 


209 


The  body  b  long,  slender  and  compressed  ;  head  convex  above  the 
eyes,  the  scales  moderate-sized,  oval,  coveiing  the  head  and  gill-covers; 
the  lateral  line  is  slightly  curved  ;  the  eyes  large ;  maxillarics,  inter- 
maxillaries,  and  pharyngeals  min  itely  toothed. 

The  first  dorsal  fin  is  triangular,  and  longer  than  it  is  high,  of  eight 
weak  spines ;  between  this  and  the  second  dorsal  is  a  single  weak 
spine.  The  second  dorsal  has  twenty-eight  soft  rays,  the  psctoraln 
have  eighteen  soft  rays,  the  ventrals  one  spine  and  five  soft  rays,  the 
anal  thirteen,  and  the  caudal  seventeen  rays. 

Of  this  fish  there  are  two  distinct  varieties,  the  Otolithus  Caroli 
nensis,  also  misnamed  Trout,  which  is  bluer  on  the  back  than  the 
Common  Weak-Fish,  and  is  spotted  rather  than  striated ;  and  th 
Otolithus  Drummondiy  a  smaller  species  found  at  New  Orleans. 

The  Common  Weak-Fish  is  taken  with  the  hook  and  reel  of  all 
sizes,  from  a  few  ounces  up  to  seven  or  eight  pounds,  and  it  is  posi- 
tively asserted  even  up  to  thirty,  but  I  have  never  seen  a  specimea 
approaching  to  such  dimensions. 


,i 


/ 


■n\ 


210 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


ACANTHOPTERYGU. 


SCIENIDiC. 


THE   KING-FISH. 

BERMUDA    WHITING. 
Umbrina  Nehuloaa;  Agasaiz. — Umbrina  Alburnue. 

This  admirable  jSsh,  which  was  formerly  very  abundant  in  the 
waters  of  New  York  and  its  vicinity,  very  few  ever  wandering  so  far 
as  to  Boston,  is  becoming  daily  less  frequent.  On  the  coasts  of  Caro- 
lina and  Florida,  where  it  is  still  taken  in  vast  numbers,  it  is  known 
absurdly  as  the  Whiting,  a  fish  to  which  it  bears  no  resemblance. 

It  is  perhaps  the  gamest  of  all  the  shoal  salt-water  fishes,  and  the 
angler  regards  the  King-Fish  in  his  basket  much  as  the  sportsman 
looks  upon  the  Woodcock  in  his  bag — as  worth  a  dozen  of  the  more 
easily  captured  and  less  worthy  fry. 

His  colors  on  the  back  and  side  are  dark  bluish  gray,  with  lustrous 
and  silvery  reflections,  and  bright  many-colored  nacrous  gleams  flitting 
over  him  as  he  dies.  His  irides  are  yellow ;  his  dorsals,  caudal,  and 
pectorals  are  dusky  olive  brown,  the  former  the  deepest ;  the  ventrals 
and  anals  pale  yellow.  There  are  several  dark  oblique  bands  on  the 
back,  broken  toward  the  tail,  and  a  dark  horizontal  stripe,  more  or 
less  distinct,  from  the  pectorals  to  the  tail. 

The  body  is  long,  cylindrical,  and  slender ;  the  scales  round,  the 
lateral  line  parallel  to  the  back  ;  the  snout  is  long  but  blunt ;  the 
operculum  has  two  strong  flat  spines ;  the  prcoperculum  is  serrated 
behind ;  the  branchiostegous  rays  are  seven  ;  the  teeth  of  the  upper 
jaw  are  long,  sh-irp  and  rare,  in  the  lower  even  and  crowded. 

First  dorsal  fin  is  triangular,  with  ten  spinous  rays,  the  second 
dorsal  has  one  spinous  and  twenty-five  soft  rays,  the  pectorals  thirteen 
soft  rays,  the  ventrals  one  spine  and  five  soft  rays,  the  caudal  fin 
has  seventeen  rays,  and  has  its  upper  lob  ^  acute,  but  its  lower  rounded. 

There  is  said  to  be  a  permanent  variety  of  this  fish,  Vmhrina 
Coroides^  peculiar  to  South  Carolina,  which  has  two  spines  to  the  anal 
fin,  and  is  marked  with  nine  dark  vertical  bands  on  the  back. 


8CI£NIDJE 


211 


/     1 


AOANTHOFTERYOIL 


SCIENW^fi. 


THE   SILVERY   CORVINA. 


CORVINA  ARGYROLEUCA. 


Silvery  Pkarch.    Bodianua  Argyroleucoa ;  Mitchil. 


This  fish,  which  greatly  resembles  the  Pearch  both  in  shape  and 
habits,  is  well  known  to  the  fishermen  of  New  York  as  the  Silvery 
Pearch.  It  is  properly  a  native  of  the  Caribbean  ^«a  and  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  but  ranges  during  the  summer  so  far  north  as  the  waters  of 
New  York. 

It  is  a  free  biter,  and  a  moderately  good  fish. 

It  is  of  a  lustrous  silvery  white  on  the  upper  parts  of  the  body,  and 
opaque  white  below.  Its  dorsals,  pectorals  and  caudal  are  pale 
yellow ;  its  ventrals  and  anals  orange  yellow. 

Its  body  is  compressed,  its  dorsal  outline  arched  and  gibbous,  its 
lateral  line  concurrent  with  the  back ;  eyes  large,  mouth  deeply  cut, 
teeth  small  and  disposed  in  bands ;  the  preoperculum  has  two  small 
spines,  and  a  serrated  margin  ;  the  operculum  terminates  in  two  flat 
spines. 

The  first  dorsal  fin  has  eleven  spines,  the  second  dorsal  two  spines 
and  twenty-two  soft  rays,  the  pectorals  seventeen  soft  rays,  the  ventrals 
one  spine  and  five  soft  rays,  the  anal  two  spines  and  nine  soft  rays,  the 
caudal  is  slightly  rounded,  and  has  seventeen  soft  rays. 


I 


212 


AMEIHCAM  FISHES. 


ACAMTHOPTERYGII. 


8C1£KID^. 


THE  BRANDED  CORVINA. 

Cortina  Ocellata;  Cuvier. 

This  b  a  beautiful  species,  very  rare  at  the  north,  but  is  abundant 
to  the  southward.  It  is  as  excellent  as  it  is  handsome,  and  my  south- 
ern readers  will  recognise  it  as  the  Poisson  RougCj  or  Red-fish,  of  New 
Orleans,  and  as  the  Sea  Bass  or  Red  Bass  of  Charleston.  Like  the 
rest  of  its  family  it  is  a  bold  biter  and  a  vigorous  fish,  and  is  considered 
superlative  on  the  table. 

In  color  it  is  blue  above,  lighter  below,  with  head,  cheeks  and 
shoulders  of  a  deep  golden  yellow,  with  ruddy  metallic  refiections.  Its 
dorsal  fiu  is  dark  green.  Pectorals,  ventrals  and  anal  dull  red.  At 
the  base  of  the  tail  it  has  one  and  sometimes  two  dark  brown  confluent 
spots.  To  these  its  name  of  Branded  has  been  ascribed  by  Dr. 
Mitchil,  as  if  the  marks  resembled  he  brand  left  by  a  heated  iron. 

The  body  of  this  Corvina  is  more  cylindrical,  less  compressed  and 
shallower  than  in  any  others  of  its  family.  The  snout  is  blunt  but 
prominent c  Lateral  line  concurrent  with  the  dorsal  outline.  The 
teeth  in  one  band  in  both  jaws.  The  preuperculum  is  serrated  or 
toothed  along  the  whole  margin ;  the  operculum  terminates  posteri- 
orly in  two  blunt  spines. 

The  first  dorsal  fin  has  ten  spines ;  the  second  one  spine  and  twenty- 
six  soft  rays ;  the  pectorals  have  seventeen  soft  rays ;  the  ventrals  one 
spine  and  five  soft  rays ;  the  anal  two  spines  and  eight  soft  rays ;  and 
the  caudal,  which  is  nearly  even,  but  slightly  hollowed  out  in  the  centre, 
has  seventeen  branched  rays. 

It  is  found  in  the  southern  seas  from  eight  inches  to  three  feet  in 
length,  and  in  those  waters  is  one  of  the  most  favorite  objects  of  pur- 
suit to  the  salt-water  angler.  s 


^ 


BCIBNIDJE. 


213 


ACANTHOPTERYGIL 


8CIENID.C 


THE  BIG  DRUM. 

Pogoniat  Chromu!  Cuvier.         >'  '■-_ 
AND 

THE  BANDED  DRUM. 

Pogoniaa  Faaciatua ;  Lacepede. 

Both  of  these  fish  are  so  constantly  and  commonly  taken  by  the 
bait  fisher  in  shoal  salt  water  that  it  would  hardly  be  proper  to  omit  all 
mention  of  them  in  a  work  of  this  nature,  although  except  the  great 
size  and  difficulty  of  landing  the  former,  and  the  rapid  biting  of  the 
latter  variety — if  they  be  indeed  distinct  species,  which  I  think  Dr. 
DeKay  has  satisfactorily  established  them  to  be — they  have  little  or 
nothing  to  recommend  them. 

The  geographical  range  of  both  these  fishes  is  from  Florida  to  New 
York,  their  northern  and  southern  limits  being  identical. 

They  have  both  deep  compressed  bodies,  large  eyes,  lateral  lines 
parallel  to  the  dorsal  outline,  numerous  teeth  in  card-like  bands  on  the 
jaws,  and  the  pharyngeals  furnished  with  large  hard  grinders. 

They  have  both  double  dorsals,  the  former  with  nine,  the  latter  with 
ten  spines  in  the  first — both  with  one  spine  and  twenty-two  soft  rays 
in  the  second.  Pectorals,  respectively,  eighteen  and  twenty ;  ventrals 
of  both,  one  spine  and  five  soft  rays ;  anals,  respectively,  two  spines, 
seven  soft  rays,  and  two  spines,  five  soft  rays ;  caudals  seventeen,  and 
fifteen  branched  rays. 

The  large  fish  is  of  a  brownish  bronze  color,  rather  lighter  below, 
with  a  strongly  marked  spot  behind  the  pectorals ;  scales  silvery  at  the 
outer  edges. 

The  smaller  fish  is  nearly  of  the  same  color,  chocolate  brown,  or 
bronze  intermixed  with  silver,  but  marked  with  four  dusky  bands,  one 
coming  down  to  the  pectorals,  the  second  crossing  the  first  dorsal,  and 


■  llllllMlH 


214 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


the  last  two  crossing  the  second  dorsal.    The  pectoral  fins  arc  yellow 
ish,  the  others  dusky  brown. 

The  smaller  fish  has  been  by  some  persons  s  "pposed  to  be  the  young 
of  the  larger  species,  but  this  is,  in  my  opinion,  satisfactorily  contro- 
verted by  Dr.  DeKay,  who  has  seen  them  in  September  six  inches  long 
with  all  the  characteristics  of  the  adult. 

It  is  known  by  various  popular  names,  as  the  Grunter^  Young  Drum, 
and  Young  Sheeps-head,  but  is  a  fish  of  very  small  estimation. 

The  larger  species  is  rarely  taken  of  less  than  three  feet  in  length) 
and  fifteen  or  eighteen  inches  in  depth ;  they  weigh  from  twenty  to 
eighty  pounds,  and  although  the  large  fish  are  very  coarse,  the  young 
are  considered  by  some  persons  delicate  eating.  They  rarely  go  north 
of  New  York,  but  very  rarely  visit  the  coasts  of  Massachu-^etts. 


/  • 


n. 


«...  -\-_ 


SPARIDJB. 


216 


AGANTHOPTERYOIl. 


gPARID^ 


THE  SHEEP'S-HEAD. 

Sargua  Oeis;  Auctorum. 


This  fine  and  delicate  fish  must  on  no  account  be  confounded  wit!: 
the  fresh-water  Corvina^  ^vo  of  which  pass  by  the  same  synonynie  in 
the  vernacular,  and  are  peculiar  to  the  great  lakes.  This  is,  on  tho 
contrary,  a  purely  salt-water  species,  never  ascending  rivers,  although 
it  enters  all  the  shallow  bays  on  the  coast,  so  far  as  Cape  Cod.  It  is 
a  southern  fish  in  its  natural  state,  although  during  the  heat  of  the 
summer  it  wanders  to  the  northward,  where  it  is  taken  along  the  shores 
from  June  to  October.  Its  southern  limit  is  the  Mississippi,  and  the 
coasts  of  Florida  and  the  Carolinas  are  its  breeding-grounds. 

As  a  delicacy,  it  holds  "  the  same  rank  with  American  gastrono- 
mers," says  Dr.  DeKay,  "  that  the  Turbot  holds  in  Europe.  I  have 
frequently  eaten  of  both,  under  equally  favorable  circumstances,  that 
is  to  say,  within  an  hour  after  being  taken  out  of  the  water,  and  can 
assert  that  the  Sheep's-Head  is  the  more  delicate  and  savory  fish.  The 
Turbot,  I  may  here  state — though  I  have  heard  the  contrary  frequently 
asserted — does  not  occur  on  the  shores  of  America." 

I  have  quoted  the  above  remarks  for  two  reasons,  first  because  I 
desire  to  register  my  assertion  as  against  Dr.  DeKay's,  although  such 
things  are,  after  all,  merely  matters  of  opinion,  that  the  Shecp's-Hcad, 
though  a  delicious  fish,  is  not  more  delicate — savory  neither  of  them 
are — than  the  Turbot,  and  that  it  is  immeasurably  inferior  to  it  in 
lacking  what  constitutes  the  Turbot's  chief  excellence,  the  admirable 
gelatinous  fins,  which  have  been  famous  the  world  over  from  the  time 
of  Domitian  and  Heliogabalus,  arch  epicures  of  old,  to  the  palmy 
days  of  Ude  and  Carenne. 

„  Secondly,  I  beg  leave  to  state  positively,  that  although  the  Turbot  of 
Europe  does  not  exist  on  the  shores  of  America,  a  Turbot,  and  a  very 
admirable  fish  too,  as  far  superior  to  the  Halibut  as  one  fish  can  well 
be  to  another,  does  exist,  and  is  constantly  taken  on  the  shores  of  Mas- 


216 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


sachusctts,  although,  like  many  other  excellent  species,  it  is  strangely 
undorvalusd. 

But  to  return  to  the  Sheep 's-Head :  it  is  a  timid  and  wary  fish, 
very  difficult  to  hook,  and  when  hooked  a  fierce  and  hold  hattler, 
exceeding  difficult  to  land,  and  making  a  more  desperate  resistance 
than  infinitely  larger  species.  It  is  considered  the  greatest  achieve- 
ment of  the  salt-water  fisherman  to  master  this  king  of  the  seas. 

It  is  occasionally  taken  up  to  seventeen  pounds,  though  seven  or 
eight  pounds  may  he  considered  the  average  of  largf  ^-^b,  hut  like 
many,  I  might  say  most  fishes,  the  smaller  and  middle-sized  run  may 
be  generally  set  down  as  the  most  choice. 

The  Sheep's-Head  has  a  deep  compressed  body,  a  head  sloping 
abruptly  to  the  snout,  and  equally  so  to  the  chin  and  throat.  Scales 
large  and  oblong,  smaller  on  the  gill-covers  and  throat ;  the  lateral 
line  is  parallel  to  the  dorsal  outline  ;  the  preoperculum  is  broadly 
rounded,  the  operculum  emarginate.  In  front  of  each  jaw  it  has 
several  large  quadrilateral  cutting  teeth,  and  inside  of  these,  both 
above  and  below,  as  well  as  on  the  pharyngeals,  are  many  series  of 
large-paved  grinders. 

Its  dorsal  fin  has  twelve  spinous  and  eleven  soft  rays,  its  pectorals 
fifteen  soft,  ventrals  one  spinous  and  five  soft,  its  anal  three  spinous 
and  ten  soft,  and  its  caudal  seventeen  soft  rays. 

In  color  it  is  of  a  dull  silver,  with  coppery  gleams  on  the  back, 
with  five  slightly  arched  bands  of  a  darker  color  crossing  the  back 
and  tail.  The  irides  are  brown,  the  pupils  black,  girdled  with  a 
golden  ring. 

The  fins  are  all  deep  brown  or  blackish ;  the  head  and  forehead 
black,  with  golden  green  refiections  ;  the  chin  marked  with  smutty, 
patches,  from  some  fancied  resemblance  of  which  to  a  Moorland 
sheep's  face,  its  trivial  name  is  derived. 


Note  to  Revised  Edition. — Since  writing  the  above,  I  learn  from  the  correspou' 
dent  of  n  paper,  writing  hostilely,  that  the  Sheep's-Head  ranges  even  south  of  the 
MissiBsippi.  I  used  the  best  authority  I  could  coininauu,  iiol  Iiavkii^  visiied  that 
country.     I  now  gladly  avail  myself  of  his  matter,  though  "  I  detest  his  manner." 


/ 


SPA  RID  A. 


317 


ACANTHOPTERYOn. 


SPARID^. 


THE  BIG  PORGEE. 

Pagrua  Argyropt ;  Cuvier. 

This  is  a  good  and  a  handsome  fish,  and  would  be  more  valued  if 
less  common.  It  is  a  bold  and  free  biter,  and  affords  great  sport  to 
the  salt-water  angler,  being,  with  the  Sea  Bass,  the  principal  object 
of  pursuit  to  those  who  affect  steamboat  excursions  to  the  fishing 
banks.  Its  geographical  range  is  from  Charleston  southward,  to  Cape 
Cod  on  the  north,  beyond  which  it  has  been  found  impossible  to  natu- 
ralize them. 

The  color  of  the  Porgee  is  a  deep  brownish  black  on  the  head  and 
back,  with  green  and  golden  reflections,  especially  about  the  neck  and 
sides,  which  are  silvery,  with  brazen  gleams.  A  black  spot  marks  the 
upper  corner  of  the  gill-cover  crossing  the  lateral  line,  and  there  is 
another  of  the  same  kind  at  the  base  of  the  pectoral  fin.  The  dorsal, 
anal  and  caudal  fins  are  brown,  the  ventrals  bluish,  the  pectorals  light 
yellow.  The  body  of  this  fish  is  much  compressed,  with  a  gibbous 
outline,  nearly  half  as  deep  as  it  is  broad ;  the  face  arched ;  the 
scales  are  large,  and  the  lateral  line  corresponds  with  the  curve  of  the 
back.  , 

The  jaws  are  largely  furnished,  as  well  as  the  pharyngeals,  with 
alternating  series  of  acute  and  paved  teeth.  The  dorsal  fin  is  com- 
pound, with  one  stout  and  twelve  feeble  spines,  and  twelve  soft  rays  ; 
the  pectorals  are  unusually  long,  with  sixteen  soft  rays  ;  the  ventrals 
have  one  spine  and  five  soft,  the  anal  three  spines  and  eleven  soft,  and 
the  caudal  S3venteen  soft  rays. 

There  are  two  smaller  fish  of  the  same  family,  one  well  known  to 
all  fishermen,  especially  on  the  Long  Island  shores,  as  the  Sand 
Porgee,  Sargus  Arenosus  ;  and  another  far  less  common,  described 
by  Cuvier  and  others  as  the  Rhomboidal  Porgee,  Sargus  BAom- 
boides,  which,  though  very  similar  to  the  Big  Porgee,  are  clearly 
dintinct. 

16 


218 


AMERICAN  FISHES 


ACANTHOPTERYOn. 


SCOMBRIO^ 


•■!;  I' 


THE  BLUE-FISH. 


HORSE    MACKEREL,    GREEN-FISH,    IN    VIRGINIA  ;     SKIPJACK,    IN 
CAROLINA  ;    SNAPPING  MACKEREL. 

Temnodon  Saltator ;  Cuvior. 

A  BOLD,  fierce,  :tud  well-known  fish  t^'«,  greatly  sought  after,  and 
affording  fine  sport  to  the  fisherman,  and  right-royally  good  to  cat 
when  quite  fresh  out  of  the  water,  split  in  two  down  the  back,  nailed 
upon  a  shingle,  and  roasted  before  a  quick  fire. 

It  is  a  singularly  erratic  fish,  sometimes  swarming  on  the  coasts,  and 
again  almost  entirely  disappearing.  It  occasionally  runs  far  up  rivers, 
and  wc^  taken  in  the  Hudson,  so  high  up  as  the  Highlands,  in  great 
quantities  in  the  year  1841.  It  appears  to  have  been  entirely  unknown 
on  the  coasts  of  New  York  before  the  year  1810,  since  which  it  has 
been,  on  the  whole,  gradually  on  the  increase,  while  in  like  propor- 
tion its  victims,  the  Weak-Fish  and  King-Fish,  appear  to  be  dying  out. 

The  Blue  Fish  is  said  occasionally  to  reach  the  weight  of  thirty-five 
pounds,  but  the  average  run  is  from  three  to  eight.  They  generally 
frequent  the  coasts  of  New  York  from  l\Iay  until  late  in  the  autumn. 
Their  geographical  range  is  very  wide,  from  Brazil  to  Massachusetts 
on  the  coasts  of  America,  from  New  Holland  to  Madagascar,  and 
from  Amboyna  to  Egypt. 

The  young  fish  abound  in  the  mouths  of  our  rivers  from  four  to  six 
inches  in  length,  and  even  then  they  .will  take  the  bait  with  avidity. 

The  ordinary  mode  of  catching  this  fine  fish  is  with  what  is  tochni- 
cally  termed  a  squid,  or  piece  of  bright  bone  or  metal,  hurled  out 
from  the  stern  of  a  sailing  boat,  going  with  what  is  known  as  a  "  mack- 
erel breeze  "  in  a  sea-way,  and  drawn  rapidly  home  by  hand. 

There  are  many  worse  kinds  of  sport  than  this  ;  the  swift  motion 
of  the  vessel,  the  dashing  spray,  and  the  rapid  biting  of  the  fish,  com- 
bining  to  create  a  highly  pleasurable  excitement. 


SCOMORIDiK. 


219 


Tho  color  of  this  fish  is  a  light  bluish  gray,  with  deeper  tints  on  the 
back,  and  greenish  reflections  on  the  sides,  becoming  silvery  on  the 
belly.  The  pectorals,  dorsal  and  caudal  fins  greenish  brown,  the  vcu- 
trals  and  anul  bluish  white. 

The  body  is  oblong,  cylindrical,  compressed  and  slender,  the  facial 
outline  gently  sloping,  the  scales,  which  cover  the  whole  body,  the  head, 
gill-covers,  and  much  of  the  fins  are  of  moderate  size  and  oblong 
oval  form. 

The  lower  jaw  is  longest,  both  maxillaries  are  well  armed  with  sharp 
lancet-formed  teeth ;  the  palatines,  vomer  and  base  of  tongue  banded 
with  card-like  patches  of  teeth.  The  operculum  terminates  in  two 
indistinct  flat  points. 

The  first  dorsal  fin  is  composed  of  seven  weak  spinous  ray.s,  the 
second  of  one  short  and  twenty-five  longer  flexible  rays.  The  pecto- 
rals have  seventeen  soft,  the  ventrals  one  spine  and  five  soft,  the  anals 
one  spine  and  twenty-seven  soft,  and  the  caudal  nineteen  flexible 
rays. 

Of  the  same  family  with  the  above  are  the  well-known  Spring  Mack- 
erel, Scomber  Vernalis,  of  Mitchil,  and  Fall  Mackerel,  Scomber  Gre.r.. 
of  the  same  author,  as  also  the  Spanish  Mackerel,  Scomber  Colias,  all 
of  which  species  are  excellent  eating,  and  give  good  sport  in  the  bays 
and  inlets.  They  are,  however,  so  common  that  they  are  rarely  pur- 
sued for  the  sport,  or  taken  except  as  an  article  of  food  and  coramerce. 
I  therefore  pass  them  without  farther  notice  than  this  mere  cursory 
mention 


1130 


AMERICAN  riBHEt. 


ACANTIIOPTERYail. 


LABRID^C. 


THE    TAUTOG. 

The  Dlank-Fiih  of  New  Yot\ir-Tautoffa  Americana ;  DeKay. 

This,  liko  all  tho  fishes  last  described,  is  rather  a  general  favorite 
among  both  sportsmen  and  epicures,  though  I  confess  my  own  opinion 
to  be  that  he  is  generally  overrated  in  both  capacities.  As  a  game 
finh  ho  is  a  dead,  loggy,  heavy  puller  on  the  hook,  ofi'ering  little  resist- , 
(inc'c  beyond  the  via  inertire  and  dead  weight,  and  on  tho  table  his  excel- 
l(;nco  depends  mainly  on  the  cook. 

The  color  of  the  Black-Fish  is  indicated  by  his  name,  but  varies  con- 
Nidornbly  from  deep  dull  black  to  glossy  blue  black  with  metallic 
.'cfl<!ctionff,  and  occasionally  to  dusky  brown. 

\\\%  body  is  elongated  and  compressed,  the  outlines  of  the  back 
arched  forward  of  tho  dorsal  to  the  snout,  straight  posteriorly.  The 
lateral  line  concurrent  with  tho  back.  Tho  eyes  are  rather  small,  the 
iicales  ftmall,  extending  over  tho  gill-covers,  which  are  very  largo  and 
rottndcd.  Tho  lips  are  very  thick  and  fleshy,  the  teeth  stout.  The 
branch iostegous  rays  are  five  in  number. 

The  dorsal  fin  has  seventeen  low  spinous  rays,  and  ten  soft  rays, 
tho  pectorals  seventeen  soft,  the  ventrals  one  spinous,  five  soft,  the 
final  three  spinous  and  eight  soft,  the  caudal  fourteen  soft  branched 
ray*.  -  * 

The  Tautog  ranges  only  from  the  capes  of  tho  Chesapeake  to  Mas- 
ffachuflctts  Bay.  He  is  readily  taken  with  the  hook  baited  with  crabs, 
clamff,  or  other  small  shell-fish,  from  April  until  late  in  the  auttimn, 
(•»pncially  in  the  vicinity  of  rocks,  reefs,  hulls  of  sunken  wrecks,  or  old 
dcucrted  docks,  whero  he  finds  food  in  abundance.  It  is  well  to  bait 
the  gronnd  largely  for  several  days  in  advance  of  fishing  for  him.*    , 

•  Note  to  Revised  Edition I  have  recently  learned  that  Ihia  fish,  as  well  as 

(be  Providence  Whiting,  is  becoming  common  in  Charleston,  having,  it  is  believed, 
#«(*floed  from  the  car  of  a  fishing-boat,  and  bred  there. 


■^a»- 


OBISP-SBA    VIIIIC*. 


831 


■^. 


DEEP-SEA  FISHING. 


I  HARDLY  hold  mysolf  justified  in  enumerating  the  Cod,  Haddock, 
Whiting,  Halibut  and  Flounder  among  game  fishes,  but  as  it  is  proba- 
ble that  Bomo  of  my  readers  do  regard  them  as  such,  and  pursue  them 
for  the  pleasure  of  the  capture,  independent  of  profit,  I  shall  proceed 
to  describe  the  first  three  briefly,  and  shall  devote  a  few  pages  in 
another  portion  of  this  work  to  a  consideration  of  the  modes  and 
methods  of  their  capture. 

The  huge  Halibut,  Ilippogtossus  Vulgaris^  and  the  Flounder,  rieu- 
ronectes  DsntatuS)  I  shall  content  myself  with  naming,  as  I  cannot 
bring  mysolf  to  regard  them  as  fit  for  any  but  culinary  purposes.  In 
like  manner  the  Hake,  the  Cuak,  the  Pollock,  and  many  others  of  the 
Cod  family,  I  shall  pass  in  silence  as  objects  only  of  casual  pursuit, 
except  to  the  professional  fisherman,  who  plies  his  daily  toil  to  earn  his 
daily  bread 


222 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


SUBBRACHIAL 
MALACOPTEUYGII. 


.1'       \ 
GADID^C 


THE   COD. 

Morrhua  Vulgaris. 

This  is  the  common  Cod  of  Newfoundland,  well-known  as  at 
article  of  food  the  wide  world  over.  There  is  an  American  variety, 
Morrhua  Americana,  which  is  slightly  though  permanently  distinct. 

The  fishes  of  this  class  are  distinguished  from  the  other  soft-rayed 
fishes  by  having  the  ventrals  situate  nearly  vertical  under  the  pec- 
torals, and  having  two  or  three  dorsal  and  anal  fins. 

The  color  of  this  well-known  species,  which  attains  to  a  vast  weight, 
sometimes  seventy  or  eighty  pounds,  varies  much  in  individuals.  It 
is  generally  greenish  brown,  fading  into  ash-color  when  the  fish  is 
dead,  with  many  I'eddish  yellow  spots.  The  belly  silvery  opaque 
white,  the  fins  pale  green,  the  lateral  line  dead  white. 

The  body  is  long  and  cylindrical,  the  head  sloping  in  an  arched 
line,  the  eyes  large,  the  scales  small  and  adhesive.  It  has  a  cirrus 
or  barbel  at  the  extremity  of  the  lower  jaw.  It  has  four  rows  of  teeth 
on  the  upper,  and  one  on  the  lower  jaw. 

It  has  three  dorsal  fins,  respectively  of  fifteen,  twenty-two,  and 
nineteen  rays ;  pectorals  nineteen  rays  ;  ventrals  six  rays.  Two  anal 
fins  respectively  of  twenty-two  and  nineteen  rays  ;  caudal  forty  rays. 

It  is  a  bold  :uicl  voracious  fish,  ranging  from  New  York  northwardly 
along  all  the  coasts  of  America. 


•.^s^ 


OADIDifi. 


223 


gUBRACniAL 
MALACOPTEBTGIL 


OADIDifi 


THE  AMERICAN  HADDOCK. 


Morrhua  Mglcfms;  Cuvicr 

The  distinctive  coloring  of  this  fish  is  blackish  brown  above,  and 
silvery  gray  below  tbe  lateral  line,  which  is  jet  black.  The  back  and 
sides  are  varied  by  purplish  and  golden  gleams ;  there  is  a  large  dark 
vertical  patch  posterior  to  the  pectorals,  crossing  the  lateral  line. 

The  fins  are  dusky  blue. 

The  body  of  the  Haddock  is  stout,  anteriorly,  and  tapering  back  • 
ward.  The  head  large  and  arched.  The  eyes  are  large.  The  lower 
jaw  is  the  shortest;  the  teeth  small,  in  a  single  row  on  each  jaw;  a 
single  small  barbel  on  the  chin. 

It  has  three  dorsals,  the  first  and  third  triangular,  the  second  long- 
er', respectively  of  fifteen,  twenty-two  and  twenty  rays  The  pecto- 
rals have  twenty-one,  the  ventrals  sixteen,  the  two  anals  respectively 
twenty-five  and  twenty-one,  and  the  caudal  thirty -four  rays. 

The  range  of  the  Haddock  is  similar  to  that  of  the  Cod ;  it  is  very 
abundant,  and  is  about  equal  in  estimation  as  an  article  of  food  with 
its  congeners. 


224 


8UBBRACHIAL 
MALACOPTEBYOIL 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


GADID^ 


THE   AMERICAN    WHITING. 

Mcrlangua  Ameriranus. 

'1'his  is,  comparatively  speaking,  a  rare  and  little-known  fish,  that 
which  is  commonly  called  Whiting,  being  in  reality  a  Hake  Merluciut 
It  ranges  only  from  Massachusetts  northward. 

It  is  easily  distinguished  by  its  long,  tapering,  cylindrical  body,  and 
its  high,  triangular,  wing-like  dorsals. 

Its  color  is,  above  the  lateral  line,  a  bright  nacrous  bluish  gray,  and 
below  a  silvery  white,  with  fins  nearly  of  the  same  color. 

The  head  of  the  Whiting  is  acutely  prolonged ;  the  eyes  large  and 
prominent ;  the  gill-covers  rounded  ;  the  teeth  sharp  and  small. 

The  three  dorsals  have  respectively  thirteen,  twenty  and  twenty 
ray.^  ;  the  pectorals  nineteen,  the  ventrals  six,  the  anals  respectively 
twenty-four  and  twenty-one,  and  the  caudal  thirty-two. 

The  Whiting  is  a  delicate  fish.  It  is  taken  in  the  same  manner 
and  in  the  same  waters  with  the  Cod  and  Haddock,  and,  like  them, 
has  little  or  no  game  habits.  My  chief  reason  for  inserting  him  in 
this  work  is,  that  his  existence  in  American  waters  has  been  doubted 
and  denied. 

•  Note  to  Krvirrd  Edition. — I  have  just  learned  from  Mr.  King,  of  Charleiton, 
S.  C,  that  this  fish  hae  lately  been  found  in  tneir  waters,  iiuving,  it  is  thought,  e»- 
cupnd  from  an  Eastern  iiB}tiii(;-br>at,  and  hocoino  naturalized. 


SALMON    FISHING. 


23A 


SALMON  FISHING. 


Of  all  the  piscatory  sports,  this  is  the  first  and  finest ;  and  although 
it  cannot  now  be  pursued  by  the  American  angler  except  at  the 
expense  of  some  not  inconsiderable  time  and  trouble,  still  there  is  no 
land  on  earth  in  which  it  exists  in  such  perfection  as  in  this. 

Time  was,  when  every  river  eastward  of  the  Capes  of  the  Dela- 
ware swarmed  with  this  noble  fish,  but,  year  after  year,  like  the  red 
Indian,  they  have  passed  farther  and  farther  from  the  sphere  of  the 
encroaching  white  man's  boasted  civilization,  and  perhaps  will  also 
ere  long  be  lost  from  the  natural  world  of  this  era. 

The  Kennebec  is  now  the  western  limit  of  the  Salmon's  range,  and  in 
that  bright  and  limpid  river  he  is  yearly  waxing  loss  and  less  frequent 

In  the  Penobscot,  even  to  this  day,  he  abounds  ;  but  for  some 
singular  and  inexplicable  reason,  whether  it  be  from  the  sawdusty 
turbidness  of  its  lower  water?-  or  from  some  especial  habit  of  the  fish, 
he  is  rarely  or  never  knowri  to  take  the  bait  or  the  fly,  within  very 
many  miles  of  the  mouth  of  'hid  grand  and  impetuous  stream. 

Far  up  the  northern  anc!  li  > -thwestern  branches  of  the  river  it  is 
speared  constantly  by  the  Penobscot  Indians ;  but  the  white  residents 
of  that  wild  region,  lurrhcrnien  for  tliO  most  part,  and  sparse  agricul- 
tural settlers,  are  guiltless  of  the  ait  of  fly-fishing — the  only  method, 
by-the-way,  except  the  use  of  roe-bait,  whereof  more  anon,  by  which 
much  success  can  be  expected  or  obtained. 

To  the  sportsman,  that  great  track  of  granJly-timbered  and  superb- 
ly-watered wilderness,  which  yet  lies  virgin  almost  and  unbroken,  from 
within  a  few  leagues  of  the  ocean  to  the  groat  St.  Lawrence,  and 
from  the  Upper  Kennebec  to  the  Aroostook  and  St.  John's,  is  yet 
well  nigh  ter7-a  incognita. 

Yet  well  would  it  repay  the  fisherman  or  the  hunter,  to  pack  his 
traps  in  the  smallest  compass,  and  set  forth  with  rifle,  shot-gun,  and 


226 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


long  Salinon-rod,  via  Augusta,  Norridgewock,  and  the  magnificent 
gorges  of  the  Kennebec,  for  that  land  of  the  Moose,  the  Deer,  the 
Trout,  and  the  lordly  Salmon,  there  to  encamp  for  days  or  weeks,  as 
his  taste  for  excitement  and  his  manly  hardihood  should  dictate,  floating 
by  day  in  the  birch-bark  canoe  over  the  bright  transparent  waters, 
sleeping  by  night  on  the  fragrant  and  elastic  shoots  of  the  green  hem- 
lock, winning  his  food  from  the  waters  and  the  wilds  by  his  own  skill 
and  daring,  and  earning  the  appetite  whereby  to  enjoy  it,  by  the  toil 
which  is  to  him  a  pleasure. 

Such  in  fact  is  at  present  the  only  mode  by  which  the  angler  can 
enjoy  truly  fine  Salmon  fishing,  unless  indeed  he  be  a  man  of  such 
liberally  endowed  leisure  that  he  can  fit  his  own  yacht,  and  visiting 
the  estuaries  of  those  Salmon-freighted  rivers,  which,  from  the  St. 
John's,  round  all  the  eastern  and  northeastern  shores  of  New  Bruns- 
wick, Nova  Scotia,  and  Prince  Edward's  Island,  to  the  vast  mouth  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  up  that  splendid  river  and  its  great  northern 
tributaries,  the  Mingan  and  the  Saguenay,  so  far  almost  as  the  heights 
of  Cape  Diamond,  oflFer  the  largest  temptations  to  the  adventurous 
angler. 

Within  a  few  years,  indeed,  the  rivers  close  around  Quebec,  the 
Montmorenci,  the  Chaudicre,  and  the  Jacques  Cartier,  abounded  with 
Salmon ;  and  a  di-ivo  of  a  few  hours  in  the  morning  from  the  Plains 
of  Abraham,  set  the  fisherman  on  waters  where  he  could  confidently 
count  on  filling  his  creel,  even  to  overflowing,  before  night-fall ;  but 
latterly  these  streams  have  failed  almost  entirely,  and  a  sail  of  many 
miles  down  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  mouth  of  the  Saguenay  or  the 
lordship  of  Mingan,  has  now  become  necessary  to  ensure  good  sport. 

In  the  upper  province  of  Canada,  although  Salmon  run  up  the  river 
into  Lake  Ontario,  and  frequent  many  of  the  streams  falling  into  it 
from  the  northern  shore,  as  the  Credit  and  others,  they  are  very 
rarely  fished  for  or  taken  with  the  fiy,  and  it  is  said  confidently  that 
in  the  lake  itself  they  will  not  take  the  fly  under  any  circumstances. 

Within  my  own  recollection,  Salmon  w.,re  wont  to  run  up  the 
Oswego,  and  so  find  their  way  into  all  the  lesser  lakes  of  the  State  of 
New  York ;  but  the  dams  on  the  river,  erected,  I  believe,  in  order  to 
the  construction  of  the  canal,  have  completely  shut  them  out  from 
these  waters.     I  may  here  observe  that  it  is  very  greatly  to  be  deplored 


p 


/ 


SALMON     FISIU.NG. 


'2'ri 


'iliac,  ^5  is  conipitllf  J  by  law  ia  the  Scottish  juul  Irish  Salui<)n  rivers, 
.  II  Miiall  aperture  is  not  left  lu  Iho  rivoiH  and  dams,  if  tboy  ho  above 
twelve  feet  in  hoisjlit,  hy  whieli   the  fish  may  iiscenH  to  the  cool  uiiu 
giavt'lly  lieud-wat(rir,  in  which  they  dcpusit  tln.ir  ,sp:iwu. 

Such  ui  ap;  rluic  or  viui-wii'),  whirb  hL>(!(l  not  b'.;  of  more  than  two 
or  tlirec  fcfit  squar' ,  hmhiIJ  not  t>ocusiou  auy  iuat'.rial  Musto  of  watov 
in  livers  of  tl-aj  vast  volume  and  r?,pidily  v»hjch  are  charactoiistic  of  all 
ihc  American  Siilieon  rivvfy.  vt:d,  th»^'-.\^brc,  would  delract  notljiug 
from  'ho  Ttilify  of  ihe  workf ,  vsijile,  by  ^'.ai^.Tinir  tliiy  lo  >-t  valnaiib; 
fiah  to  asocnd  the  course,  a.r-'.  fo  r.)  p.-opa^at*^  vh  -.p»MM(»»,  it,  wouid  i-nstuo 
t/)  the  inbaldtants  of  tlio  »<<irtvd  e»horeH  'MhSr.ViWi  vjirifty  of  A'*>d.  aud 
A.^roato  anew  an  impurtant  aniclo-  of  ..ornjafr?***-.. 

It  Is  .singidar  that  the  Saliuon  of  the  ]sik>'«^  >.-<Mv>«p,i'r  kiw<r)i  t*  «'nU'r 
th'.?  Niairara  river,  aUJH'Uijh  thoy  mri'  wofetAW (it  **?«*/•»*  a!  it-.  ijw.;<*ib. 
They  iidglit  ii,s(nnd  if  6oni<' . Hixtemi  or  Heventcen  mile*,  <■■.  i.*ie  hn^^i  yf 
the  Falls,  but  1  h  ;evc'  it  te  bo  a  fact  that  mma  havu  evKj*  (!,.«!)  t*k»ii 
within  (ho  stream. 

The  cause  of  tliis  is  probably  to  bo  found  in  the  great  dt'^ptb  fif 
the  jNiugaru  rivur,  in  its  al)rupt  and  "vvall-iik.''.  sh'iios,  and  in  the  t-.ital 
al^once  ot  gravol  btd«,  or  prlbly  fiords  of  any  kind,  on  whic's   the.y 
•  vm  tieposit  their  ova. 

Agrain,  1  am  not  awuro  that  Sahnon  are  over  taken  iu  die  I-'.I'ick 
rivov,  tlie  Raokett  river,  or  any  otb  r  of  th  ■  tino  strfmniP;  ail  aboiiud- 
ing  with  the  finest  iJrook  Tioiit,  .vhich  make  their  way  from  the 
romautir;  rei^ion  of  the  Ailirondach  lakes  and  highlands,  to  the  north- 
ward, into  i!io  basin  vd' tlie  Si.  l,av,  jeuc^^. 

Everywhere  to  the  northward  '■>f  the  great  Catir.dian  river,  to  the 
extreme  arctic  I'ecions,  th;'  Salmon  is  found  in  vast  nunihors,  und, 
togeth'.-r  with  the  White-Firth,  or  Attihawni-'g,  the  delicious  Aretic 
Grayiinp;,  Baek's  Charv,  and  th«  Coiumotj  Trout,  afford  their  jnioeipal 
iubaistence.  to  the  K^quimaus,  and  to  the  advt-uturous  fur-trad'T-f. 
wh<>i»«  pu::t.?  ar'>  d'<ti(d  dowa,  himdreds  of  leaguen  apart,  lhrou<.rhu4l 
iij<>,st'  inh'-spitabl.!  countries. 

Ajiiaia,  tbroughiiiu    ■.ijk&^httlt.i  of  ihut  bnsre  territory  lately  vmrj  v: 
!;1h?  -iWi'rdV  point,  by  ^h%  ^-ustn,  rnerji'-    of  yoouj;  Anieriea.  ft'^w    '* 
'  •  •rt^ncvatc  eiiiidroii  ■  f  >A>i  Sj; -ivii,  'iirou'i^lioui  the  ilritisli  p-Ng.-.'!!.  >  %>' 
•■-■'■    -vyii  ill  tjiofio  b?)  northorn  «hoi<'s  whici»  th.-   Ri!»'sii>n  Iv  l-^.*  ''^4.;, 


a*k 


itm^ 


'^mt 


^" 


SALMON    FISHING. 


227 


that,  as  is  coropullcd  by  law  in  the  Scottish  and  Irish  Salmon  rivers, 
a  small  aperture  is  not  left  in  the  rivers  and  dams,  if  they  be  above 
twelve  feet  in  height,  by  which  the  fish  may  ascend  to  the  cool  and 
gravelly  head-waters,  in  which  they  deposit  their  spawn. 

Such  an  aperture  or  run-way,  which  need  not  be  of  more  than  two 
or  three  feet  square,  would  not  occasion  any  material  waste  of  water 
in  rivers  of  the  vast  volume  and  rapidity  which  are  characteristic  of  all 
the  American  Salmon  rivers,  and,  therefore,  would  detract  nothing 
from  the  utility  of  the  works,  wh  le,  by  suffering  this  most  valuable 
fish  to  ascend  the  course,  and  so  to  ^^  opagatc  its  species,  it  would  ensure 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  inland  shores  a  delicious  variety  of  food,  and 
create  anew  an  important  article  of  commerce. 

It  is  singular  that  the  Salmon  of  the  lakes  are  never  known  to  enter 
the  Niagara  river,  although  they  are  constantly  taken  at  its  mouth. 
They  might  ascend  it  some  sixteen  or  seventeen  miles,  to  the  foot  of 
the  Falls,  but  I  believe  it  to  be  a  fact  that  none  have  ever  been  taken 
within  the  stream. 

The  cause  of  this  is  probably  to  be  found  in  the  great  depth  of 
the  Niagara  river,  in  its  abrupt  and  wall-like  shores,  and  in  the  total 
absence  of  gravel  beds,  or  pebbly  shoals  of  any  kind,  on  which  they 
can  deposit  their  ova. 

Again,  I  am  not  aware  that  Salmon  are  ever  taken  in  the  Black 
river,  the  Rackett  river,  or  any  other  of  the  fine  streams,  all  abound- 
ing with  the  finest  Brook  Trout,  which  make  their  way  from  the 
romantic  region  of  the  Adirondach  lakes  and  highlands,  to  the  north- 
ward, into  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

Everywhere  to  the  northward  of  the  great  Canadian  river,  to  the 
extreme  arctic  regions,  the  Salmon  is  found  in  vast  numbers,  and, 
together  with  the  White-Fish,  or  Attihawmeg,  the  delicious  Arctic 
Grayling,  Back's  Charr,  and  the  Common  Trout,  afford  their  principal 
subsistence  to  the  Esquimaux,  and  to  the  adventurous  fur-traders, 
whose  posts  are  dotted  down,  hundreds  of  leagues  apart,  throughout 
those  inhospitable  countries. 

Again,  throughout  the  whole  of  that  huge  territory  lately  won  at 
the  sword's  point,  by  the  Saxon  energy  of  young  America,  from  the 
degenerate  children  of  old  Spain,  throughout  the  British  possessions, 
and  even  in  those  tar  northern  shores  which  the  Russian  holds  upon 


<  •■^•v 


228 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


this  western  continent,  the  estuaries  and  courses  of  those  waters  which 
pour  into  the  Pacific,  can  boast  not  only  the  true  Sahnon,  but  many 
fine,  distinct  varictios.  Many  years  will  not  probably  elur '  ^,  taking 
into  consideration  the  incessant  stream  of  immigration  which  is  almost 
overflowing  Northern  California,  and  remembering  the  restloK^,  enter- 
prising cnerp>  of  the  Anglo-American  race,  before  railroads,  even  to 
the  Pacific,  across  the  western  prairies,  and  through  the  orges  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  will  open  this  new  world  to  the  adventurous  angler, 
and  the  dwellers  of  the  Atlantic  cities  will  make  their  trips  to  the 
Salmon  rivers  of  the  Pacific  with  less  trouble,  and  in  less  time,  than 
it  took  their  sturdy  Dutch  forefathers  to  visit  Albany,  now  reached 
with  ease  in  a  few  hours. 

For  the  present,  however,  it  is  needless  to  discourse  of  those  west- 
ern waters,  since  time  must  pass  before  any  species  of  game  will  be 
pursued  for  sport  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  or  killed  except  to 
afford  subsistence  to  a  population  occupied  wholly  by  the  greedy  race 
for  ricLes.  To  the  fisherman,  therefore,  the  Eastern  States  and  the 
north-eastern  British  provinces  afford  the  only  accessible  Salmon  fish- 
ing ;  and  I  should  strongly  urge  it  upon  those  who  are  enthusiastic 
about  this  fine  sport,  not  to  waste  time  even  in  the  Kennebec  or  the 
Punobsoot,  but  Ifi  pack  up  their  tra^s  at  any  time  between  May  and 
September,  and  set  forth  at  once  for  the  city  of  St.  John?  in  New 
Brunswick. 

This  town,  which  might  be  styled  not  inaptly  the  paradise  of  Ame- 
rican fly-fishers,  may  be  reached  with  ease  in  a  fev  days  via  Boston, 
whence,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  a  stout  and  well-found  steamer,  the 
Admiral,  takes  her  departure  every  Wednesday  for  New  Brunswick. 
In  St.  John  every  requisite  for  the  prosecution  of  the  sport  can  be 
obtained,  every  information  concerning  the  vast  waters,  and  every 
facility  for  the  procurement  of  guides,  boats  and  the  like  will  be  gladly 
furnished,  and  every  thing  that  hospitality  can  effect  will  be  lavishly 
offered  to  the  gentle  angler. 

I  venture  here  to  mention  the  name  of  an  enthusiastic  and  thorough 
fisherman,  Mr.  Perley,  Her  Majesty's  emigration  oflScer  in  the  city  of 
St.  John,  as  one  certain  to  do  whatever  in  his  power  lies  to  forward 
the  views  and  promote  the  pleasure  of  any  who  shall  visit  his  part,  of 
the  world,  led  by  the  love  of  the  gentle  science  ;  and  I  take  the  same 


SALMON    Fr  Sill  NO. 


229 


V 


rd 
le 


\\ 


opportunity  of  thanking  him  for  the  very  viiluabl(>  iiiformatinn  ho  h&n 
affordjd  mo  concornin:,'  tho  fij<liL'ri  'S  and  fishiiij^  of  the  proviin:.?,  and 
of  b'jspoakin.';  his  friendship  and  att.^ntion  for  any  of  my  readers  who 
shall  bo  induced  by  the  perusal  of  these  pages  to  wet  a  lino  in  tho 
rapids  of  the  St.  John,  tho  Obscacho,  the  Chemenpoek,  or  tho  llichi- 
bucto. 

Before  procoedlnn;  to  doscribo  the  more  technical  portions  of  Salmon 
fishing,  and  the  implements  nocossary  for  the  prosecution  of  tho  sport,, 
1  shall  take  tho  liberty  of  (juoting  from  niysolf  a  chapter  of  a  n  >.:  • 
lotto  now  in  course  iblication  in  C  aham's  cxccdlont  maga/lnc, 

entitled  Jasper  St,  Aui  I  do  this  not  egotistically,  nor  altogether 

to  save  time  and  troub.  out  rather  because  it  contains  as  correct  an 
account  of  tho  modo  to  be  pursued  in  casting  for  the  Salmon,  hooking, 
playing  and  killing  him  in  an  English  river,  as  I  am  capable  of  writing ; 
and  bocauso  the  variety  of  the  narrative  stylo  may  possibly  prove  a 
relief  to  tho  reader,  after  tho  drier  routine  of  more  didactic  writing. 

It  is  scarcely,  perhaps,  necessary  to  add  that  the  mode  of  fishing  for 
the  Salmon  in  England  and  America  are  identical,  the  tackle  and  im- 
plements the  same,  and  the  same  flies  the  most  killing  in  all  waters,  of 
which  singular  fact,  and  other  matters  connected  with  which,  I  shall  say 
more  hereafter.  Nor,  I  presume,  need  I  apologise  to  my  reader  for 
the  slight  anachronism  which  has  attributed  to  an  ideal  personage  sup- 
posed to  live  in  the  age  of  the  Second  James  all  the  modern  improve- 
ments and  advantages  possessed  by  the  angl-^is  of  the  present  day,  and 
all  the  skill  and  science  which  were  certainly  not  to  be  found  at  that 
time  in  any  Salmon-fisher,  not  excepting  even  good  quaint  Father 
Izaak,  whoso  maxims  on  Salmon-fishing,  and  indeed  on  fly-fishing  in 
general,  savor  far  more  of  antiquity  than  of  utility. 


"  It  was  as  fair  a  morning  of  July  as  ever  dawned  in  the  blue  sum- 
mer sky ;  the  sun  as  yet  had  risen  but  a  little  way  above  the  waves  of 
fresh  green  foliage  which  formed  the  horizon  of  the  woodland  scenery 
surrounding  Widecomb  Manor;  and  his  heat,  which  promised  ere 
mid-day  to  become  excessive,  was  tempered  now  by  the  exhalations  of 
the  copious  night-dews,  and  by  the  cool  breath  of  the  western  breeze, 


^, 


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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


lASlM    |2.5 

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1^  ^   12.2 
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11.25 


WUI- 

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Kiotographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


i 


% 


33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4S03 


N 


230 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


which  came  down  through  the  leafy  gorges,  in  long,  soft  swells  from 
the  open  moorlands. 

"All  nature  was  alive  and  joyous;  the  air  was  vocal  with  the 
piping  melody  of  the  blackbirds  and  thrushes,  caroling  in  every  brake 
and  bosky  dingle ;  the  smooth,  green  lawn  before  the  windows  of  the 
old  Hall  was  peopled  with  whole  tribes  of  fat,  lazy  hares,  limping  about 
among  the  dewy  herbage,  fearless,  as  it  would  seem,  of  man's  aggres- 
sion ;  and  to  complete  the  picture,  above  a  score  of  splendid  peacocks 
were  strutting  to  and  fro  on  the  paved  terraces,  or  perched  upon  the 
carved  stone  balustrades,  displaying  their  gorgeous  plumage  to  the 
early  sunshine. 

"  The  shadowy  mists  of  the  first  morning  twilight  had  not  been  dis- 
persed from  the  lower  regions,  and  were  suspended  still  in  the  middle 
air  in  broad  fleecy  masses,  though  melting  rapidly  away  in  the  increas- 
ing warmth  and  brightness  of  the  day. 

"  And  still  a  faint  blue  line  hovered  over  the  bed  of  the  long  rocky 
gorge,  which  divided  the  chase  from  the  open  country,  floating  about 
it  like  the  steam  of  a  seething  caldron,  and  rising  here  and  there  into 
tall  smoke-like  columns,  probably  where  some  steeper  cataract  of  the 
mountain-stream  sent  its  foam  skyward. 

"  So  early,  indeed,  was  the  hour,  that  had  my  tale  been  recited  of 
these  degenerate  days,  there  would  have  been  no  gentle  eyes  awake  to 
look  upon  the  loveliness  of  new-awakened  nature. 

"  In  the  good  days  of  old,  however,  when  daylight  was  still  deemed 
to  be  the  fitting  time  for  labor  and  for  pastime,  and  night  the  appointed 
time  for  natural  and  healthful  sleep,  the  dawn  was  wont  to  brighten 
beheld  by  other  eyes  than  those  of  clowns  and  milkmaids,  and  the  gay 
songs  of  the  matutinal  birds  were  listened  to  by  ears  that  could  appre- 
ciate their  untaught  melodies. 

"  And  now,  just  as  the  stable  clock  was  striking  four,  the  great 
oaken  door  of  the  old  Hall  was  thrown  open  with  a  vigorous  swing  that 
made  it  rattle  on  its  hinges,  and  Jasper  St.  Aubyn  came  bounding  out 
into  the  fresh  morning  air,  with  a  foot  as  elastic  as  that  of  the  moun^ 
tain  roe,  singing  a  snatch  of  some  quaint  old  ballad. 

"  He  was  dressed  simply  in  a  close-fitting  jacket  and  tight  hose  of 
dark-green  cloth,  without  any  lace  or  embroidery,  light  boots  of  uu- 
tanned  leather,  and  a  broad-leafed  hat,  with  a  single  eagle's  feather 


SALMON    riSUIIfO. 


231 


thrust  carelessly  through  the  band.  He  wore  neither  cloak  nor  sword, 
though  it  was  a  period  at  which  gentlemen  rarely  went  abroad  without 
these,  their  distinctive  attributes ;  but  in  the  broad  black  belt  which 
girt  his  rounded  waist  he  carried  a  stout  wood-knife  with  a  buckhorn 
hilt ;  and  over  his  shoulder  there  swung  from  a  leathern  thong  a  large 
wicker  fishing-basket. 

"  Nothing,  indeed,  could  be  simpler  or  less  indicative  of  any  parti- 
cular rank  or  station  in  society  than  young  St.  Aubyn's  garb,  yet  it 
would  have  been  a  very  dull  and  unobservant  eye  which  should  take 
him  for  aught  less  than  a  high-born  and  high-bred  gentleman. 

**His  fine  intellectual  face,  his  bearing  erect  before  heaven,  the 
graceful  ease  of  hb  every  motion,  as  ho  hurried  down  the  flagged  stops 
of  the  terrace,  and  planted  his  light  foot  on  the  dewy  greensward,  all 
betokened  gentle  birth  and  gentle  associations. 

"  But  he  thought  nothing  of  himself,  nor  cared  for  his  advantages, 
acquired  or  natural.  The  long  and  heavy  salmon-rod  which  he  carried 
in  his  right  hand,  in  three  pieces  as  yet  unconnected,  did  not  more 
clearly  indicate  his  purpose  than  the  quick  marking  glance  which  he 
cast  toward  the  half-veiled  sun  and  hazy  sky,  scanning  the  signs  of  the 
weather. 

" '  It  will  do,  it  will  do,'  he  said  to  himself,  thinking  as  it  were 
aloud,  'for  three  or  four  hours  at  least ;  the  sun  will  not  shake  off  those 
vapors  before  eight  o'clock  at  the  earliest,  and  if  he  do  come  out  then 
hot  and  strong,  I  do  not  know  but  the  water  is  dark  enough  after  the 
late  rains  to  serve  my  turn  a  while  longer.  It  will  blow  up,  too,  I  think, 
from  the  westward,  and  there  will  be  a  brisk  curl  on  the  pools.  But 
come,  I  must  be  moving,  if  I  would  reach  Darringford  to  breakfast.' 

"  And  as  he  spoke  he  strode  out  rapidly  across  the  park  toward  the 
deep  chasm  of  the  stream,  crushing  a  thousand  aromatic  perfumes  from 
the  dewy  wild-flowers  with  his  heedless  foot,  and  thinking  Kttle  of  the 
beauties  of  nature,  as  he  hastened  to  the  scene  of  his  loved  exercise. 

"  It  was  not  long,  accordingly,  before  he  reached  the  brink  of  the 
steep  rocky  bank  above  the  stream,  which  he  proposed  to  fish  that 
morning,  and  paused  to  select  the  best  place  for  descending  to  the 
water's  edge. 

"  It  was,  indeed,  a  striking  and  romantic  scene  as  ever  met  the  eye 
of  painter  or  of  poet.    On  the  farther  side  of  the  gorge,  scarcely  a  bun- 


232 


AMBRICAIC   ?I8HES. 


dred  yards  distant,  the  dark  limestone  rocks  rose  sheer  and  precipitous 
from  the  very  brink  of  the  stream,  rifted  and  broken  into  angular 
blocks  and  tall  columnar  masses,  from  the  clefts  of  nrhich,  wherever 
they  could  find  soil  enough  to  support  their  scanty  growth,  a  few 
stunted  oaks  shot  out  almost  horizontally  with  their  gnarled  arms  and 
dark-green  foliage,  and  here  and  there  the  silvery  bark  and  quivering 
tresses  of  the  birch  relieved  the  monotony  of  color  by  their  gay  bright- 
ness. Above,  the  cliffs  were  crowned  with  the  beautiful  purple  hea- 
ther, now  in  its  very  glow  of  summer  bloom,  about  which  were  buzzing 
myriads  of  wild  bees,  sipping  thoir  nectar  from  its  cups  of  amethyst. 

"  The  hither  side,  though  rough  and  steep  and  broken,  was  not  in 
the  place  where  Jasper  stood  precipitous  ;  indeed  it  seemed  as  if  at 
some  distant  period  a  sort  of  landslip  had  occurred,  by  which  the 
summit  of  the  rocky  wall  had  been  broken  into  massive  fragments,  and 
hurled  down  in  an  inclined  plane  into  the  bed  of  the  stream,  on  which 
it  had  encroached  with  its  shattered  blocks  and  rounded  boulders. 

"  Time,  however,  had  covered  all  this  abrupt  and  broken  slope  with 
a  beautiful  growth  of  oak  and  hazel  coppice,  among  which,  only  at  dis- 
tant intervals,  could  the  dun  weather-beaten  flanks  of  the  great  stones 
bo  discovered. 

"  At  the  base  of  this  descent,  a  hundred  ond  fifty  feet  perhaps  below 
the  stand  of  the  young  sportsman,  flowed  the  dark  arrowy  stream — a 
wild  and  perilous  water.  As  clear  as  crystal,  yet  as  dark  as  the  brown 
cairn-gorm,  it  came  pouring  down  among  the  broken  rocks  with  a 
rapidity  and  force  which  showed  what  must  be  its  fury  when  swollen 
by  a  storm  among  the  mountains,  here  breaking  into  wreaths  of  rip- 
pling foam  where  some  unseen  ledge  chafed  its  current,  there  roaring 
and  surging  white  as  December's  snow  among  the  great  round-headed 
rocks,  and  there  again  wheeling  in  sullen  eddies,  dark  and  deceitful, 
round  and  round  some  deep  rock-rimmed  basin. 

"  Here  and  there,  indeed,  it  spread  out  into  wide,  shallow,  rippling 
rapids,, filling  the  whole  bottom  of  the  ravine  from  side  to  side,  but 
more  generally  it  did  not  occupy  above  a  fourth  part  of  the  space 
below,  leaving  sometimes  on  this  margin,  sometimes  on  that,  broad 
pebbly  banks,  or  slaty  ledges,  affording  an  easy  footing  and  a  clear 
path  to  the  angler  in  its  troubled  waters. 

"  After  a  rapid  glance  over  the  well-known  scene,  Jasper  plunged 


[• 


/ 


SALMON    riSHINO. 


233 


into  the  coppice,  and  following  a  faint  track  worn  by  the  feet  of  the 
wild-Klecr  in  the  first  instance,  and  widened  by  his  own  bolder  tread, 
soon  reached  the  bottom  of  the  chasm,  though  not  until  he  had  flushed 
from  the  dense  oak  covert  two  noble  black  cooks  with  their  superb 
forked  tails,  and  glossy  purple-lustered  plumage,  which  soared  away, 
crowing  their  bold  defiance,  over  the  heathery  moorlands. 

"  Once  at  the  water's  edge,  the  young  man's  tackle  was  speedily 
made  ready,  and  in  a  few  minutes  his  long  line  went  whistling  through 
the  air,  as  he  wielded  the  powerful  two-handed  rod,  as  easily  as  if  it 
had  been  a  stripling's  reed,  and  the  large  gaudy  peacock-fly  alighted 
on  the  wheeling  eddies,  at  the  tail  of  a  long  arrowy  shoot,  as  gently  as 
if  it  had  settled  from  too  long  a  flight.  Delicately,  deftly,  it  was 
made  to  dance  and  skim  the  clear,  brown  surface,  until  it  had  crossed 
the  pool  and  neared  the  hither  bank ;  then  again,  obedient  to  the  pli- 
ant wrist,  it  arose  on  glittering  wing,  circled  half  round  the  angler's 
head,  and  was  sent  fifteen  yards  aloof,  straight  as  a  wild  bee's  flight, 
into  a  little  mimic  whirlpool,  scarce  larger  than  the  hat  of  the  skilful 
fisherman,  which  spun  round  and  round  just  to  leeward  of  a  gray  ledge 
of  limestone.  Scarce  had  it  reached  its  mark  before  the  water  broke 
all  around  it,  and  the  gay  deceit  vanished,  the  heavy  swirl  of  the  sur- 
face, as  the  break  was  closing,  indicating  the  great  size  of  the  fish  which 
had  risen.  Just  as  the  swirl  was  subsiding,  and  the  forked  tail  of  the 
monarch  of  the  stream  was  half  seen  as  he  descended,  that  indescri- 
bable but  well-known  turn  of  the  angler's  wrist,  fixed  the  barbed  hook, 
and  taught  the  scaly  victim  the  nature  of  the  prey  he  had  gorged  so 
heedlessly. 

"  With  a  wild  bound  he  threw  himself  three  feet  out  of  the  water, 
showing  his  silver  sides,  with  the  sea-lice  yet  clinging  to  his  scales,  a 
fresh  sea-run  fish  of  fifteen,  ay,  eighteen  pounds,  and  perhaps  over. 

"  On  his  broad  back  he  strikes  the  water,  but  not  as  he  meant  the 
tightened  line ;  for  as  he  leaped  the  practised  hand  had  lowered  the 
rod's  tip,  that  it  fell  in  a  loose  bight  below  him.  Again !  again ! 
again !  and  yet  a  fourth  time  he  bounded  into  the  air  with  desperate 
and  vifforous  soubresaults,  like  an  unbroken  steed  that  would  dismount 
his  rider,  lashing  the  eddies  of  the  dark  stream  into  bright  bubbling 
streaks,  and  making  the  heart  of  his  captor  beat  high  with  anticipation 
16 


234 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


of  the  desperate  struggle  that  should  follow,  before  the  inonstki  should 
lie  panting  and  exhausted  on  the  yellow  sand  or  moist  greensward. 

"  Away !  with  the  rush  of  an  eagle  through  the  air,  he  is  gone  like 
an  arrow  down  the  rapids — ^how  the  reel  rings,  and  the  line  whistles 
from  the  swift  working  wheel ;  he  is  too  swift,  too  headstrong  to  he 
checked  as  yet ;  tenfold  the  strength  of  that  slender  tackle  might  not 
control  him  in  his  tirst  fiery  rush. 

''  But  Jasper,  although  young  in  years,  wfs  old  in  the  art,  and  skilful 
as  the  craftiest  of  the  gentle  craftsmen.  He  gives  him  the  butt  of  his 
rod  steadily,  trying  the  strength  of  his  tackle  with  a  delicate  and  gentle 
finger,  giving  him  line  at  every  rush,  yet  firmly,  cautiously,  feeling  his 
mouth  all  the  while,  and  moderating  his  speed  even  while  he  yields  to 
his  fury. 

"  Meanwhile,  with  the  eye  of  intuition  and  the  nerve  of  iron,  he 
bounds  along  the  difficult  shore,  he  leaps  from  rock  to  rock,  alighting 
on  their  slippery  tops  with  the  firm  agility  of  the  rope-dancer,  he 
splashes  knee-deep  through  the  slippery  shallows,  keeping  his  line 
ever  taut,  inclining  his  rod  over  his  shoulder,  bearing  on  his  fish  ever 
with  a  killing  pull,  steering  him  clear  of  every  rock  or  stump  against 
which  he  would  fain  smash  the  tackle,  and  landing  him  at  length  in  a 
fine  open  roomy  pool,  at  the  foot  of  a  long  stretch  of  white  and  foamy 
rapids,  down  which  he  has  just  piloted  him  with  the  eye  of  faith,  and 
the  foot  of  instinct. 

"  And  now  the  great  Salmon  has  turned  sulky ;  like  a  piece  of  lead 
he  has  sunk  to  the  bottom  of  the  deep  black  pool,  and  lies  on  the 
gravel  bottom  in  the  suUenness  of  despair. 

"  Jasper  stooped,  gathered  up  in  his  left  hand  a  heavy  pebble,  and 
pitched  it  into  the  pool,  as  nearly  as  he  could  guess  to  the  whereabout 
of  his  game — another — and  another !  Aha !  that  last  has  roused  him. 
Again  he  throws  himself  clear  out  of  water,  and  again  foiled  in  his 
attempt  to  smash  the  tackle,  dashes  away  down  stream  impetuous. 

"  But  his  strength  is  departing — the  vigor  of  his  rush  is  broken. 
The  angler  gives  him  the  butt  abundantly,  strains  on  him  with  a 
heavier  pull,  yet  ever  yields  a  little  as  he  exerts  his  failing  powers ; 
see,  his  broad,  silver  side  has  thrice  turned  up,  even  to  the  surface, 
and  thou'jh  each  time  he  has  recovered  himself,  each  time  it  has  been 
with  a  heavier  and  more  sickly  motion. 


ii 


SALMON    FISHING. 


235 


*'  Bravo  fellow !  his  last  race  is  run,  his  last  spring  sprung — no 
more  shall  he  disport  himself  in  the  hright  reaches  of  the  Taniar  ;  no 
more  shall  the  Naiads  wreathe  his  clear  silver  rfcalcs  with  river-greens 
and  flowery  rushes. 

"  The  cruel  gaff  is  in  his  side — his  cold  hlood  stains  the  eddies  for 
a  moment — ho  flaps  out  his  death-pang  on  the  hard  limestone. 

" '  Who-whoop !  a  nineteen  pounder !' 

"  Meantime  the  morning  had  worn  onward,  and  ere  the  great  fish 
was  brough  to  the  basket,  the  sun  had  soared  clear  above  the  mist- 
wreaths,  and  had  risen  so  high  into  the  summer  heaven  that  his  slant 
rays  poured  down  into  the  gorge  of  the  stream,  and  lighted  up  the 
clear  depths  with  a  lustre  so  transparent  that  every  pebble  at  the 
bottom  might  have  been  discerned,  with  the  large  fish  here  and  there 
floating  mid  depth,  with  their  heads  up  stream,  their  gills  working 
with  a  quick  motion,  and  their  broad  tails  vibrating  at  short  intervals 
slowly  but  powerfully,  as  they  lay  motionless  in  opposition  to  the  very 
strongest  of  the  swift  current. 

"  The  breeze  had  died  away,  there  was  no  curl  upon  the  water,  and 
the  heat  was  oppressive.  ^ 

"  Under  such  circumstances,  to  whip  the  stream  was  little  better 
than  mere  loss  of  time,  yet  as  he  hurried  with  a  fleet  foot  down  the 
gorge,  perhaps  with  some  ulterior  object,  beyond  the  mere  love  of 
sport,  Jasper  at  times  cast  his  fly  across  the  stream,  and  drew  it  neatly, 
and,  as  he  thought,  irresistibly,  right  over  the  recusant  fish ;  but  though 
once  or  twice  a  large  lazy  Salmon  would  sail  up  slowly  from  the 
depths,  and  almost  touch  the  fly  with  his  nose,  he  either  sunk  down 
slowly  in  disgust,  without  breaking  the  water,  or  flapped  his  broad  tail 
over  the  shining  fraud  as  if  to  mark  his  contempt. 

"  It  had  now  got  to  be  near  noon,  for,  in  the  ardor  of  his  success, 
the  angler  had  forgotten  all  about  his  intended  breakfast ;  and,  his 
first  fish  captured,  had  contented  himself  with  a  slender  meal  furnished 
from  out  his  fishing-basket  and  his  leathern  bottle. 

"  Jasper  had  traversed  by  this  time  some  ten  miles  in  length,  follow- 
ing the  sinuosities  of  the  stream,  and  had  reached  a  favorite  pool  at 
the  head  of  a  long,  straight,  narrow  trench,  cut  by  the  waters  them- 
selves in  the  course  of  time,  through  the  hard  shistous  rock  which  walls 


836 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


the  torrcp'  on  each  hand,  not  leaving  the  slightest  ledge  or  margin 
between  the  rapids  and  the  precipice.  ^ 

"  Through  this  wild  gorge  of  some  fifty  yards  in  length,  the  river 
shoots  like  an  arrow  over  a  steep  inclined  plane  of  limestone  rock,  the 
surface  of  which  is  polished  by  the  action  of  the  water,  till  it  is  as 
slippery  as  ice,  and  at  the  extremity  leaps  down  a  sheer  descent  of 
some  twelve  feet  into  a  large,  wide  basin,  surrounded  by  softly  swell- 
ing banks  of  greensward,  and  a  fair  amphitheatre  of  woodland. 

"  At  the  upper  end  this  pool  is  so  deep  as  to  bo  vulgarly  deemed 
unfathomable ;  below,  however,  it  expands  yet  wider  into  a  shallow 
rippling  ford,  where  it  is  crossed  by  the  high-road,  down  stream  of 
which  again  there  is  another  long,  sharp  rapid,  and  another  fall,  over 
the  last  steps  of  the  hills ;  after  which  the  nature  of  the  stream  be- 
comes changed,  and  it  murmurs  gently  onward  through  a  green  pas- 
toral country,  unrippled  and  uninterrupted. 

"  Just  in  the  inner  angle  of  the  high-road,  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
stream,  there  stood  an  old-fashioned,  low-browed,  thatch-covered, 
stone  cottage,  with  a  rude  portico  of  rustic  woodwork  overrun  with 
jasmine  and  vivgin-bower,  and  a  pretty  flower-garden  sloping  down 
in  successive  terraces  to  the  edge  of  the  basin.  Beside  this,  there  was 
no  other  house  in  sight,  unless  it  were  part  of  the  roof  of  a  mill  which 
stood  in  the  low  gi-ound  on  the  brink  of  the  second  fall,  surrounded 
with  a  mass  of  willows.  But  the  tall  steeple  of  a  country  church, 
raising  itself  heavenward  above  the  brow  of  the  hill,  seemed  to  show 
that,  although  concealed  by  the  undulations  of  the  ground,  a  village 
was  hard  at  hand. 

"  The  morning  had  changed  a  second  time,  a  hazy  film  had  crept 
up  to  the  zenith,  and  the  sun  was  now  covered  with  a  pale  golden  veil, 
and  a  slight  current  of  air  down  the  gorge  ruffled  the  water.  ''   ,, 

"  It  was  a  capital  pool,  famous  for  being  the  temporary  haunt  of  the 
very  finest  fish,  which  were  wont  to  lie  there  awhile,  as  if  to  recruit 
themselves  after  the  exertions  of  leaping  the  two  falls  and  stemming 
the  double  rapid,  before  attempting  to  ascend  the  stream  farther. 

• "  Few,  however,  even  of  the  best  and  boldest  fishermen,  cared  to 
wet  a  line  in  its  waters,  in  consequence  of  the  supposed  impossibility 
of  following  a  heavy  fish  through  the  gorge  below,  or  checking  him  at 
the  brink  of  the  fall.     It  is  true,  that  throughout  the  length  of  th^ 


>i-*.J 


SALMON    FISHING. 


237 


pass,  the  current  was  broken  bj  bare,  slippery  rooks  peering  abovo 
the  waters,  at  intervals,  which  might  be  cleared  by  an  active  crags- 
man ;  and  it  had  been  in  fact  reconnoitered  by  Jasper  and  others  in 
cool  blood,  but  the  result  of  the  examination  was  that  it  was  deemed 
impassable. 

*'  Thinking,  however,  little  of  striking  a  large  fish,  and  perhaps 
desiring  to  waste  a  little  time  before  scaling  the  banks  and  emerging 
on  the  high-road,  Jasper  threw  a  favorite  fly  of  pcacock^s  herl  and 
gold  tinsel  lightly  across  the  water  ;  and,  almost  before  he  had  time 
to  think,  had  hooked  a  monstrous  fish,  which,  at  the  very  first  leap, 
be  set  down  as  weighing  at  least  thirty  pounds. 

"  Thereupon  followed  a  splendid  display  of  piscatory  skill.  Well 
knowing  that  his  fish  must  be  lost  if  he  once  should  succeed  in  getting 
his  head  down  the  rapid,  Jasper  exerted  every  nerve,  and  exhausted 
every  art  to  humor,  to  meet,  to  restrain,  to  check  him.  Four  times 
the  fish  rushed  for  the  pass,  and  four  times  Jasper  met  him  so  stoutly 
with  the  butt,  trying  his  tackle  to  the  very  utmost,  that  ho  succeeded 
in  forcing  him  from  the  perilous  spot.  Round  and  round  the  pool  ho 
had  piloted  him,  and  had  taken  post  at  length,  hoping  that  the  worst 
was  already  over,  close  to  the  opening  of  the  rocky  chasm. 

"  And  now  perhaps  waxing  too  confident,  he  checked  his  fish  too 
sharply.  Stung  into  fury,  the  monster  sprang  five  times  in  succession 
into  the  air,  lashing  the  water  with  his  angry  tail,  and  then  rushed 
like  an  arrow  down  the  chasm. 

"  He  was  gone — but  Jasper's  blood  was  up,  an  j  thinking  of  nothing 
but  his  sport,  he  dashed  forward,  and  embarked,  w  th  a  fearless  foot, 
in  the  terrible  descent. 

"  Leap  after  leap  he  took  with  beautiful  precision,  alighting  firm 
and  erect  on  the  centre  of  each  slippery  block,  and  bounding  thence 
to  the  next  with  unerring  instinct,  guiding  his  fish  the  while  with  con- 
summate skill  through  the  intricacies  of  the  pass. 

"  There  were  now  but  three  more  leaps  to  be  taken  before  he  would 
reach  the  flat  table-rock  above  the  fall,  which  once  attained,  he  would 
have  firm  foot-hold  and  a  fair  field  ;  already  he  rejoiced,  triumphant 
in  the  success  of  his  bold  attainment,  and  confident  in  victory,  when  a 
shrill  female  shriek  reached  his  ears  from  the  pretty  flower-garden ; 
caught  by  the  sound,  he  diverted  his  eyes,  just  as  he  leaped,  toward 


238 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


the  place  whonoe  it  came ;  his  foot  slipped,  and  the  next  instant  he 
was  flat  on  his  back  in  the  swift  stream,  whore  it  shot  the  most  furi- 
ously  over  the  glassy  rook.  He  struggled  manfully,  but  in  vain.  The 
smooth,  slippery  surface  afforded  no  purohaso  to  his  griping  fingers,  no 
hold  to  his  laboring  feet.  One  fearful,  agonizing  conflict  with  the 
wild  waters,  and  he  was  swept  helplessly  over  the  edge  of  the  fall,  his 
head,  as  he  glanced  down  foot  foremost,  striking  the  rocky  brink  with 
fearful  violence. 

"  He  was  plunged  into  the  deep  pool,  and  whirled  round  and  round 
by  the  dark  eddies  long  before  he  rose,  but  still,  though  stunned  and 
half-disabled,  he  strove  terribly  to  support  himself,  but  it  was  all  in 
vain. 

"  Again  he  sunk  and  rose  once  more,  and  as  he  rose  that  wild  shriek 
again  reached  his  cars,  and  his  last  glance  fell  upon  a  female  form 
wringing  her  hands  in  despair  on  the  bank,  and  a  young  man  rushing 
down  in  wild  haste  from  the  cottage  on  the  hill. 

"  He  felt  that  aid  was  at  hand,  and  struck  out  again  for  life — for 
dear  life ! 

*'  But  the  water  seemed  to  fail  beneath  him. 

"  A  slight  flash  sprang  across  his  eyes,  his  brain  reeled,  and  all  was 
blackness. 

"  He  sunk  to  the  bottom,  spurned  it  with  his  feet,  and  rose  once 
more,  but  not  to  the  surface. 

"  His  quivering  blue  hands  emerged  alone  above  the  relentless 
waters,  grasped  for  a  little  moment  at  empty  space,  and  then  disap- 
peared. 

"  The  circling  ripples  closed  over  him,  and  subsided  into  stillness. 

"  Ho  felt,  knew,  suffered  nothing  more.  ' 

"  His  young,  warm  heart  was  cold  and  lifeless — his  soul  had  lost  its 
consciousness — the  vital  spark  had  faded  into  darkness — perhaps  was 
quenched  for  ever."  ,         ,    ,    ,  , , 


.  i 


THE   IMPLBMEIVTS  Or   SALMON   riSHIITO 


299 


THE  IMPLEMENTS  OF  SALMON  FISHING. 


Time  was,  when  every  angler  wag  required  to  make  his  own  instru- 
ments, from  the  rod  itself  to  the  artificial  fly,  but  now,  so  general  has 
become  the  love  of  this  calm  and  gentle  pursuit,  and  so  multiplied 
and  subdivided  are  all  trades  and  professions,  that  there  are  few  cities 
in  the  civilized  world,  of  any  magnitude,  in  which  it  is  not  easy,  at 
any  moment,  to  procure  anything  that  is  rcquisito  for  this  pursuit. 

Of  consequence,  the  necessity  for  skill  in  manufacture  of  imple- 
ments has  passed  away,  and,  comparatively  speaking,  but  few  anglers 
think  it  necessary  any  longer  to  be  familiar  even  with  the  method  of 
tying  their  own  flics,  the  tackle-shops  furnishing  every  possible 
variety,  more  neatly  executed,  it  is  probable,  and  consequently  more 
killing,  than  any  could  be  of  private  manufacture. 

Still,  to  tic  a  neat  and  taking  fly  is  a  very  useful  accomplishment 
to  the  enthusiastic  fisherman,  especially  when  he  is  in  wild  and  remote 
districts,  as  frequently  must  be  the  case  ;  and  at  times  some  rare 
natural  fly  will  be  seen  on  the  water,  which  it  may  be  found  expedient 
to  imitate  without  delay. 

The  art  of  tying  flics  is  attained  with  greater  readiness,  and,  in  fact, 
is  far  less  difficult,  thuo  is  generally  thought,  or  than  would  be  imagined 
needful,  from  the  beautiful  delicacy  of  the  manufacture  in  its  perfection. 
Most  works  on  practical  angling  contain  long  and  elaborate  directions 
bow  to  hold,  and  how  to  tie  the  feathers  on  the  hook,  but  all  these  are, 
in  my  opinion,  utterly  valueless  and  futile  ;  nor  do  I  believe  that  any 
person  has  ever  learned  either  to  tie  a  fly,  or  to  cast  it  when  tied,  from 
the  perusal  of  any  printed  explanation ;  any  more  than  the  young 
sportsman  has  ever  acquired  the  knack  of  shooting  on  the  wing  except 
by  practice  and  experience. 

The  best  way  to  acquire  the  art  of  tying  flies  is  to  observe  carefully 
the  manipulation  of  some  skilful  operator,  and  to  obtain  from  him, 
during  the  performance  of  the  work,  oral  instructions  on  the  subject. 


\140 


AMERICAN  riSHSS. 


From  any  good  tacklo-makcr,  a  few  IcBsons  can  bo  obtainod  at  a  very 
■mall  expense,  and  these  will,  in  a  very  short  space  of  time,  render 
the  novico  aufait  to  the  triek. 

The  first  thing  to  be  considered  in  the  angler's  equipment,  is  the 
rod,  and  it  is  here  well  to  observe  that,  for  almost  every  sort  of  fish- 
ing, some  different  and  peculiar  rod  is  essential.  That  which  is  com- 
monly called  a  general  fishing-rod,  is,  in  fact,  an  abomination,  and  is 
useful  only  to  the  bait-fisher,  and  even  for  him  is  an  awkward  and 
ineffective  instrument,  it  being  impossible  so  to  regulate  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  lower  joints  as  to  produce  that  regular  and  equable  degree 
of  pliancy  alike  with  a  stiff  baiting  or  with  a  pliant  fly-top. 

For  the  Salmon,  the  rod  should  not  bo  of  more  than  eighteen,  or 
less  than  sixteen  feet ;  the  longer  is  apt  to  be  a  little  cumbrous,  and 
deftly  to  wield  a  double-handed  Salmon-rod,  during  a  whole  summer- 
day,  requires  no  small  practice  of  the  muscles.  The  best  wood  for 
the  butt,  which  should  be  very  stout  and  solid,  is  well-seasoned  maple, 
which  is  both  light  and  strong  ;  the  second  joint  of  ash,  the  third  of 
hickory,  and  the  fourth  or  top  joint  of  equal  parts  of  lance-wood, 
or  split  bamboo,  carefully  spliced  together. 

Many  experienced  anglers  prefer  to  'have  their  Salmon-rods  manu- 
factured without  metal  joints,  but  with  meatly-cut  and  accurately-fitted 
scares,  which  are  adjusted  and  .firmly  spliced  together  with  strong 
waxed-end  when  ot  the  river-side. 

The  supposed  advantage  of  •this  method  is  the  greater  certainty  of 
the  rod's  holding  together  during  a  severe  struggle,  in  the  course  of 
which  a  jomt  will  sometimes  be  disengaged  from  the  socket ;  and  a 
greater  equability  of  pliancy  throughout  the  whole  length,  from  the 
butt  to  the  end,  which  is  supposed  to  be  in  some  degree  impaired  by 
the  metallic  ferrules  into  which  the  heads  of  the  ferruled  joints  are 
inserted. 

In  the  present  improved  state  of  the  manufacture  of  all  sporting 
articles,  I  must  however  admit  that  these  objections  are,  in  my  opin- 
ion, very  fancifiil,  and  that  the  trouble  of  splicing  and  unsplicing 
greatly  exceeds  'the  benefit  derived  from  the  practice. 

Nothing  can  be  more  beautifully  regular  and  equal  throughout  their 
whole  length, -(han  the  springy  bend  of  the  best  English,  Irish,  Scot- 
tish, and  American  Salmon-rods  ;  and  I  may  hero  record  it  as  my 


TilR    IMPLEMENTS   OF     HALMON    riSIIINO. 


241 


delibcrato  opinion,  that  tin  best  rodH  in  tL?  world  arc  now  nmnufnc- 
tUi'ud  in  tlio  city  of  New  York,  and  that  Cunrov  is  supi'rior,  as  a 
fly-rod  nmkor,  to  cither  Chovalicr  or  Martin  Kelly,  of  uiiivurHol 
reputation.     David  Welch,  too,  has  few  equals,  if  supRriors. 

The  reel  should  bo  very  large,  capable  of  containing  one  hundred 
foot  of  twisted  line,  composed  of  hair  and  silk  intcrniiriglcd,  and 
tapering  gradually  from  the  centre  to  each  end,  whc.o  it  should  bo 
noatly  looped  to  a  bottom  of  the  best  and  stoutest  Spanish  silk- worm 
gut,  as  thick,  if  possible,  as  the  32nd  of  an  inch,  to  which  the  hook- 
links  of  the  flics  should  bo  fastened. 

The  hook-link  for  Salmon  fishing  should  bo  of  the  best  strong  gut. 
The  casting-line,  of  the  best  Salmon  gut,  is  to  bo  looped  to  the  reel- 
line,  and  must  taper  thence  to  the  hook-link.  The  loops  must  bo 
whipped  securely  on  both  sides  with  best  waxed  silk. 

The  casting-line  is  to  be  three  yards  in  length  witliout  tho  addition 
of  the  fly -link.  Every  knot  on  the  casting-line  should  bo  what  anglers 
term  the  water-knot,  which  is  merely  a  common  knot  made  by  passing 
the  ends  to  bo  secured  three  times  around  each  other ;  tho  ends  to  bo 
well  whipped  as  before. 

The  casting-line  is  to  terminate  with  a  loop,  and  the  fly  is  to  bo 
knotted  with  tho  water-knot,  to  a  link  also  looped,  and  secured  by 
waxed  lino,  which  is  then  to  bo  looped  on  the  casting-line. 

One  fly  only  should  be  used  for  Salmon  fishing. 

The  best  method  of  attaching  the  hand  fly  and  the  second  fly  to 
tho  casting  line  for  trout-fishing,  when  three  flics  are  to  be  used,  as  is 
often  the  case,  is  entirely  different  from  anything  hitherto  stated. 

There  is  but  one  knot  which  will  allow  these  flies  to  hang  truly,  and 
that  is  fully  described  with  a  cut  at  page  63. 

It  is  very  desirable  that  the  gut  should  by  dyed,  in  order  to  deaden 
its  silvery  glitter,  which  is  too  conspicuous  in  the  water,  and  often 
scares  the  fish.  Tho  best  preparation  for  this  purpose  is  dark  green 
tea,  which  brings  it  nearly  to  the  color  of  water,  when  slightly  discolored 
by  rain,  at  which  time  the  fish  are  most  apt  to  bite  freely. 

Too  much  attention  cannot  bo  paid  by  tho  angler  to  the  quality 
and  condition  of  his  gut-lengths,  or  to  the  proper  adjustment  of  the 
knot's  and  loops  by  which  it  is  fastened.  These  can  scarcely,  indeed, 
be  too  narrowly  or  jealously  scrutinised,  as  gut  is  a  material  which  is 


242 


AMERICAN  FIRHES. 


■'.    ■! 


easily  frayed  and  cut  by  its  own  friction,  and  the  slightest  imperfection 
will  often  cause  the  loss  of  a  very  heavy  fish. 

The  great  beauty  of  gut  is,  to  be  correctly  round  and  perfectly  equal 
in  thickness,  which  enables  it  to  stand  a  strain  which,  if  it  were  une- 
qual, would  cause  it  to  give  way. 

The  reel  should  be  of  brass,  which  I  prefer  to  German  silver, 
bushed  and  rivetted  with  steel.  It  should  have  a  balance  handle,  and 
a  click,  which  is  of  great  use,  as  preventing  more  of  the  lino  than  is 
required  from  running  oflF  it  while  in  the  act  of  casting,  before  a  fish 
is  struck  ;  but  a  catch  or  stop  must  on  no  account  be  used,  as  it  will 
frequently  stop  the  line  at  the  very  moment  when  it  should  run  the 
fastest.  I  had  almost  forgotten  to  add,  that  the  simple  reel  is  vastly 
preferred  by  all  truly  scientific  anglers  to  the  multiplier,  which  in  fact 
is  now  almost  exploded. 

The  fly-hooks  should  unquestionably  be  of  the  Limerick  bend,  and 
even  for  spinning  with  the  parr,  or  fishing  with  the  worm  or  the  deadly 
roe-bait,  all  of  which  are  very  killing  to  the  Salmon,  the  same  form 
is  the  preferable. 

The  great  size  and  weij^bt  of  the  Salmon  renders  the  use  of  the 
landing-net  impossible,  and  it  is,  moreover,  at  the  best,  a  clumsy  and 
unportablo  machine.  For  it,  therefore,  the  angler  substitutes  the 
gaff — a  sharp,  unbarbed  hook,  of  convenient  size,  which  screws 
securely  into  the  head  of  a  stout  ashen  shaft,  the  butt  of  which  may 
conveniently  be  hollowed  so  as  to  contain  spare  fly-tops,  as  it  is  inad- 
missible to  subtract  from  the  weight  of  the  rod-butt  by  hollowing  it. 

With  this  hook,  so  soon  as  the  fish  is  sufficiently  exhausted  to  be 
drawn  within  striking,  held  in  the  right  hand  while  the  rod  is  trans- 
ferred to  the  left,  he  gaffs  the  fish  steadily  and  sharply  in  the  solid 
portion  of  the  tail  below  the  abdominal  cavity,  which  gives  it  a  firm 
hold,  and  enables  the  lucky  sportsman  to  pull  out  even  a  forty-pounder 
with  but  little  trouble.  ""  '  -'.   r 

It  is  not  a  bad  plan  to  have  a  stout  knife-blade,  with  the  inner  edge 
sharpened,  hinged  on  the  back  of  the  gaff,  which  will  often  be  found 
of  use  in  cutting  away  any  twig  or  other  obstacle  which  may  entangle 
the  fly. 

A  creel  is  of  little  use  to  the  Salmon  fisher,  as  in  order  to  carry 
any  number  of  these  noble  fish,  one  would  be  requisite  of  the  siae  of  a 


/. 


THE    IMPLEMENTS   OF    SALMON    FISHING. 


243 


olothes-baskct ;  and  such  is  the  weight  of  the  fish,  that,  if  you  expect 
to  be  succ3ssful,  an  attendant  is  indispensable. 

With  these  instruments,  then,  a  well-filled  fly-book  in  his  pouch, 
and  perhaps  a  spare  gut  foot-length  round  his  hat,  the  fisherman  may 
deem  his  outfit  perfect. 

A  suit  of  plain  dark  clothes,  a  pair  of  stout  nailed  shoes,  and  heavy 
loose  trowsers  of  the  coarse  Scottish  plaid  worn  by  the  shepherdf?,  is 
the  best  attire  for  the  sportsman.  India-rubber  boots  are  an  abomi- 
nation, unwholesomely  confining  the  perspiration,  and  excessively 
uncomfortable  from  the  intense  heat  which  they  create  ;  besides,  an 
angler  is  hardly  the  sort  of  person  to  care  much  about  wet  feet  or  a 
soaked  jacket. 

Having  now  equipped  and  rigged  him,  we  will  conduct  him  to  the 
marge  of  limpid  lake  or  rapid  torrent,  and  see  how  best  his  scaly 
prey  he  may  ensnare.       *'  .'•    ■  i,     -  i,  ,,     .. 

In  order  to  become  a  fly-fisher,  I  think  that  something  of  an 
especial  genius  is  necessary — I  mean  a  fly-fisher  in  the  highest  sense 
of  the  word,  and  regarded  in  the  same  light  as  the  sportsman  whom 
we  can  deservedly  term  a  crack-shot. 

Still,  although  something  of  a  natural  and  inherent  aptitude  is 
necessary,  practice,  experience,  and  a  love  of  the  art,  go  so  far  that 
no  one  who  really  desires  to  attain  eminence  in  this  skill  need  despair, 
for  perhaps  no  one  very  keenly  desires  it  who  has  not  that  aptitude, 
though  perhaps  latent,  and  even  of  himself  unsuspected. 

To  teach  a  man,  as  I  have  said  before,  by  writing  or  even  by  oral 
instruction,  unless  coupled  with  active  practice  and  example,  how  to 
make  a  fly,  how  to  cast  a  fly,  how  to  hook  a  fish,  or  how,  when  hooked, 
to  kill  him,  is  to  my  apprehension  impossible.  Yet  without  some 
instructions  on  this  subject,  a  work  on  Fishing  would  justly  be  deemed 
imperfect,  and  perhaps  even  impertinent. 

After  the  first  slight  skill  is  attained  which  enables  a  fisherman  to 
cast  a  fly  at  all  without  whipping  it  off  the  hook-length,  the  great 
points  to  be  acquired  are,  precision  in  casting,  and  neatness  in  deliver- 
ing the  fly. 

In  Salmon  fishing  with  the  double-handed  rod,  all  these  things  ara 
somewhat  more  diflicult  than  with  the  light  twelve-foot  Trout-rod,  and 
more  practice  is  requisite  before  perfection  can  be  gained  ;  yet  the 


au 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


mode  is  identical,  and  the  instructions  which  alone  can  be  given  arc 
alike  few  and  simple. 

The  first  thing  to  be  observed  is,  that  the  rod  must  not  be  firmly 
grasped,  but  held  with  a  loose  and  delicate  play  of  the  thumb  and 
fingers,  as  a  cue  should  in  billiard  playing,  or  a  foil  in  fencing. 
Secondly,  that  in  throwing  out  the  fly,  nothing  like  a  jerk  or  snap 
should  be  performed,  such  as  is  done  with  a  four-horse  whip  in  flank- 
ing a  leader.  It  is  very  difficult  to  explain,  except  by  comparison, 
what  that  movement  is;  but  it  may  perhaps  be  described  as  by  a 
sudden  checking  of  the  propelling  power,  or  as  almost  a  retroversion 
of  it  at  the  moment  of  its  greatest  impetus,  somewhat  such  as  that 
which  is  termed  spinning,  or  Englishing,  a  ball  at  billiards. 

The  rod  being  held  lightly  in  the  fingers,  the  butt  of  it  must  be  so 
moved  in  front  of  the  person,  with  all  the  muscles  of  the  arm  relaxed, 
the  elbow  and  the  wrist  free  and  pliant,  that  the  tip  shall  describe  a 
complete  circle  above  and  something  behind  the  head,  and  it  will  be 
not  amiss  for  the  tyro  to  practise  this  motion  without  attempting  to 
cast  as  yet  any  line. 

Secondly,  it  must  be  remembered,  when  the  line  and  fly  is  brought 
into  play,  that  by  the  circular  motion  of  the  tip,  the  whole  line,  with 
its  cast  of  flies,  must  be  made  to  stream  out  at  full  length,  and  to 
describe  a  semicircle,  so  that  at  the  instant  previous  to  propulsion,  if 
we  desire  to  throw  directly  forward,  the  flies  shall  be  at  the  whole 
length  of  the  extended  line,  exactly  behind  us ;  when  they  must  be 
thrown  out  by  a  direct  and  even  motion,  without  any  jerk,  and  yet 
must  be  in  some  sort  checked  rather  by  a  gradual  holding  up  or 
cessation  of  the  impelling  force,  than  by  any  sudden  stop  or  retro- 
gression. , 

The  mode  of  casting  which  I  have  endeavored  to  describe  for  a 
forward  throw,  must  be  used  in  all  cases ;  if  to  the  right,  the  line 
must  stream  out,  and  the  flies  be  extended  at  full  length  to  the 
extreme  left,  and  vice  versa ;  and  this  is  the  method  by  which  accu- 
racy and  precision  in  casting  can  be  acquired,  and  by  perseverance  in 
which,  with  experience,  the  fisherman  will  ultimately  succeed  in 
throwing  his  stretcher,  or  last  fly,  with  certainty  into  a  smaller  circum- 
ference than  that  of  his  own  hat. 

This  it  is  which  we  call  precision.        „.     ,,_    ,    .j  ;, 


THE    IMPLEMENTS   OF    SALMON    FISHING. 


245 


By  neatness,  we  intend  the  knack  of  so  delivering  the  line  that  each 
one  of  the  cast  of  flies  shall  alight  upon  the  surface  of  the  water 
singly  and  severally,  and  as  lightly  as  the  thistle-down,  without  any 
portion  of  the  foot-length,  much  less  of  the  line,  bagging  or  falling  in 
a  bight  upon  the  stream. 

This  delivering  of  the  cast  at  the  end  of  a  perfectly  straight,  yet 
perfectly  easy  line,  is  the  first  great  thing  to  be  obtained.  If  we 
attempt  to  throw  the  flies,  except  after  having  made  them  describe  a 
full  semicircle  in  the  direction  opposite  to  the  purposed  cast,  we  shall 
throw  them  nowhere. 

If  we  fling  out  the  whole  line  loosely,  it  will  fall  in  a  baggy  bight 
upon  the  water,  probably  striking  the  surface  in  advance  of  the  flies, 
and  certainly  making  a  splash  and  scaring  away  the  fish  which  we 
desire  to  allure. 

If  we  check  it  too  suddenly,  or  jerk  it  back  at  all,  we  shall  snap  off 
all  our  flies  with  a  loud  crack,  and  so  remain  disarmed  and  u.«(ele3ai 
for  the  nonce. 

In  practising,  the  novice  should  use  but  a  short  line,  five  or  six  yards 
at  the  utmost,  and  a  single  fly — and  when  he  can  throw  that  with 
certainty  into  a  space  of  a  few  feet  in  circumference,  he  may  gradually 
let  out  his  line  till  he  has  reached  fifteen  yards,  which  I  regard  as  the 
extreme  length  that  can  be  managed  with  certainty,  neatness,  and 
precision,  and  add  to  the  stretcher  his  first  and  second  droppers,  more 
than  which  are  wholly  useless. 

Having  said  thus  much  of  the  mode  of  casting  the  flies,  we  will 
suppose  our  angler  clad  in  the  plainest  and  least  obtrusive  colors,  at 
the  margin  of  tlie  stream,  if  it  bo  such  as  he  can  command  with  his 
double-handed  rod,  or  wading  it  if  not  too  deep,  oi  bis  boat  if  it  be 
too  broad  to  be  cast  over  successfully. 

First,  he  shall  go  down  stream  ;  for  the  motion  of  the  water  will  so 
keep  his  line  taut,  the  benefit  of  which  hereafter  ;  and  he  will  also 
have  fewer  casts  to  make,  and  find  less  trouble  in  giving  a  natural  and 
easy  movement  to  the  artificial  insect,  which  he  must  keep  ever  floating 
on  the  surface.  Furthermore,  the  fish  are  wont  to  lie,  especially  in 
swift  waters,  with  their  heads  up  stream,  and  will  therefore  perhaps 
take  the  fly  most  readily  when  cast  down,  and  drawn  gently  over  them. 

Secondly,  he  must  on  no  account  fish  with  the  sun  behind  his  back, 


246 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


for,  if  he  do,  the  shadow  of  his  body,  with  his  arms  thrashing  the  air, 
and  the  counterfeit  presentment  of  his  long  rod  vibrating  aloft,  will 
be  thrown  on  the  bright  surface  of  the  waters  in  such  a  manner  as 
will  undoubtedly  alarm  the  fish  ;  which,  however  much  doubt  there 
may  exist  as  to  their  powers  of  auscultation,  no  one  will  deny  to  be 
capable  of  quick  vision. 

Thirdly,  he  shall  not  so  draw  his  fly  along  the  surface  as  to  give  it 
the  appearance  or  reality  of  floating  up  stream  ;  for  flies  do  not  in 
nature  float  up  stream ;  nor  do  the  Trout  or  Salmon,  although  they 
may  never  have  studied  logic,  and  are  probably  incapable  of  deducing 
consequences  from  causes,  lack  the  ability  to  discern  what  is,  from 
what  is  not,  natural. 

Across  the  stream  he  may  bring  it  gently  and  coqucttishly  home, 
with  a  slow  whirling  rotatory  motion,  letting  it  swim  down  in  the 
swifter  whirls  of  the  stream,  and  float  round  and  round  in  the  eddies, 
with  this  special  observance,  that  he  shall,  in  so  far  as  he  can,  keep  it 
ever  at  the  end  of  a  tight  line,  for  so  only  will  the  fish  hook  itself, 
without  any  movement  of  the  hand  on  the  angler's  part — an  end  most 
desirable  to  effect.        •,     :.  ,  i  ■    .  ;  '    v!  •  i.-j    .  ■,: •,;•!?>'  ;; it j  •' 

Both  Salmon  and  Trout  lie  in  wait  for  their  prey,  for  the  most  part, 
rather  than  swim  in  pursuit  of  it  in  schulls  or  companies.  They  are 
often,  I  would  say  generally,  found  in  pairs,  and  therefore,  after  killing 
one  in  any  favorable  pool  or  eddy,  it  will  be  well  not  too  soon  to  desert 
the  spot,  even  although  it  may  have  been  disturbed  by  the  bustle  and 
hiirly  of  the  first  capture. 

The  tail  of  swift  rapids,  where  some  large  stone  breaks  the  force 
of  the  current,  and  causes  a  lull,  or,  as  one  would  say  of  wind,  a  lee, 
will  always  be  found  a  likely  spot  wherein  to  cast ;  and  in  pools,  be- 
tween two  rapids  or  cascades,  the  head  and  the  foot,  immediately 
above  the  one  and  below  the  other  descent,  will  generally  each  hold 
a  fish. 

Still  clear  deep  reaches  will  again  be  found  to  contain  many  times 
the  most,  and  often  the  largest  fishes,  especially  of  Brook  Trout ; 
and  these  places  require  the  neatest  and  the  finest  fishing,  for  two 
very  sufiicient  reasons  j  first,  that  the  transparency  of  the  water  enables 
the  fish  clearly  to  discern  the  angler,  unless  he  stand  well  back  from 
the  margin  of  the  bank  ;  and,  secondly,  that  its  stillness  allows  all  the 


/ 


THE    IMPLEMENTS   OF    SALMON    FISHING. 


247 


iroperfectiona  of  the  artificial  fl; ,  and  perhaps  the  gut  to  which  it  is 
appended,  to  uo  discovered  bj  the  intended  victim. 

In  nothing  is  piscatory  skill  more  distinctly  evidenced,  than  by  tho 
instinctive  accuracy  with  which,  in  whipping  a  stream,  the  practical 
angler  will  discern  what  places  to  fish  closely,  accurately,  neatly  ;  which 
to  pass  over  lightly — in  other  words,  which  are  more  and  which  are 
most  unlikely  to  hold  the  objects  of  his  pursuit ;  and  this  skill,  this 
power,  like  that  of  casting  the  fly,  or  even  in  a  greater  degree  than 
that,  can  be  gained  only  by  dint  of  long  practice  and  accurate  obser- 
vation. 

As  I  had  occasion  to  remark,  not  once,  but  many  times,  in  my 
"  Field  Sports,"  aeteris  paribus  of  eye,  hand  and  nerves,  on  which 
almost  everything  depends,  the  closest  observer  of  nature,  the  most 
diligent  inquirer  into  the  actions,  the  habits,  the  prey,  the  liaunts,  the 
every-day  life  of  the  bird  or  beast  which  he  is  pursuing — in  other 
words,  the  best  naturalist — will  be  the  best  and  most  successful  sports- 
man ;  and  so  it  is,  and  perhaps  even  more  so,  in  the  case  of  the 
angler.  And,  indeed,  after  years  spent  in  this  exciting  and  yet  gentle 
pursuit,  the  angler  will  ever  find  that  he  has  something  still  to  learn, 
that  he  has  gained  something  daily,  if  he  keep  his  cars,  his  eyes,  his 
mind  open  to  the  sounds,  the  sights,  the  beautiful  provisions  of  nature. 

In  large  lakes,  which  must  be  fished  from  boats,  the  vicinity  of  the 
shores,  the  edges  of  shoals,  and  the  holes  in  the  close  neighborhood  of 
large  rocks  or  boulders  which  cause  eddies,  and  above  all  the  entrance.<» 
or  outlets  of  streams,  brooks  and  rivers,  are  the  likeliest  places  in 
which  to  find  Salmon,  but  not  reedy  banks  or  weed  beds,  as  is  the  case 
with  the  Pickerel  and  Mascalonge ;  and  such  spots  as  these  deserve 
the  utmost  care  and  attention  of  anglers.  And  now,  I  believe  that  I 
have  said  all  that  I  can  say  about  the  casting  of  the  fly,  and  the  places 
into  which  it  should  be  cast  in  order  to  ensure  the  first  success,  the 
getting  a  rise,  I  mean,  from  this  noblest  of  fishes.  Little  is  done,  how- 
ever, in  getting  this  rise,  unless  we  know  how  to  strike,  and  how  to  kill 
him  when  he  has  risen.  On  this  head,  perhaps,  it  might  be  said  that 
the  art  of  striking  a  fish,  or  so  handling  the  rod  that  the  barbed  hook 
shall  be  buried  socurely  and  quickly,  or  ere  the  fish  has  time  to  dis- 
cover that  the  gaudy  bait  is  an  unreal  mockery,  without  substance  or 
eavor,  consists  in  knowing  what  is  noi^  rather  than  what  is  to  be  done 


248 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


Very  certain  it  is  that  the  fly  must  noli  be  jerked  or  twitched  away 
quickly,  as  is  done  by  ninety-nine  hundredths  of  novices,  who  thereby 
instead  of  fixing  the  bait  in,  flirt  it  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Salmon 
and  probably  prick  him  in  doing  so,  rendering  him  thereby  shy  of 
again  looking  at  the  bait,  and  teaching  him  a  lesson,  which  he  may 
not  forget  in  many  days. 

At  two  moments  only,  of  the  ordinary  cast  of  a  fly,  is  the  fish  nearly 
sure  to  hook  himself — that  is,  when  it  first  alights  on  the  surface  of 
the  stream,  and  when  it  is  in  the  very  act  of  being  withdrawn  from  it, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  a  fresh  throw — for  at  these  two  moments 
only  is  it  necessarily  at  the  end  of  a  taut  extended  line.  When  a 
fish  strikes  boldly  at  either  of  these  two  points  of  time,  it  is  very  sure 
to  book  itself  without  any  exertion  of  the  angler  ;  but  if  the  line  is  in 
the  slightest  degree  curved  or  baggy,  unless  there  is  a  certain  almost 
indescribable  movement  of  the  wrist,  the  fly  will  often  be  rejected, 
owing  to  the  discovery  of  its  quality,  and  the  fish  will  so  escape  scot- 
free. 

This  striking  I  have  seen  variously  described,  but  never,  in  my 
opinion,  comprehensibly.  I  consider  that  the  great  thing  in  fly-fish- 
ing is  to  keep  the  line  always  as  straight  as  possible,  never  allowing 
any  portion  of  it  to  float  on  the  water,  and  to  have  the  fly  never  sub- 
merged, nor  yet  skipping,  but  trailed  evenly  along  the  ripples,  as  if  it 
were  naturally  floating  down,  at  the  end  of  a  straight  extended  line. 
By  this  method,  the  chances  of  striking  your  Salmon,  vithout  any  effort 
on  your  own  part,  will  be  hugely  increased.  If,  howdver,  it  be  found 
necessary  to  strike,  this  must  not  be  done  by  a  jerk  or  backward  whip 
movement  of  the  rod,  but  by  the  slightest  possible  turn  of  the  wrist 
inward  and  downward — what  that  turn  is,  every  angler  knows,  but  it 
certainly  cannot  be  described  in  writing,  nor  can  it  be,  I  think,  very 
easily  demonstrated — so  exceeding  slight  it  is — by  example. 

More  fish  are,  in  my  opinion,  lost  by  clumsiness,  and  especially  by 
over-violence  at  this  moment,  than  at  any  other  time ;  the  utmost 
caution,  therefore,  and  delicacy  of  manipulation,  are  indispensable  ; 
and  at  first,  until  he  has  killed  some  fish,  and  obtained  some  practical 
experience  in  the  art,  I  confidently  advise  the  novice  to  beware  of 
striking ;  to  allow  the  fish,  if  possible,  to  hook  himself;  and  rather  to 
lose  him  from  his  not  doing  so,  than  from  his  own  act  by  whipping  tho 


THE    IMPLEMENTS   OF    SALMON    FISHING. 


249 


half-Hwallowed  fly  out  of  his  iinporillcd  jaws  If  strike  he  must,  let 
him  do  it  with  tho  least  possible  force  or  exertion. 

When  first  a  large  and  lively  fish  feels  the  hook,  he  will  not  unfro- 
quontly,  if  checked  suddenly,  throw  himself  clear  out  of  the  water  to 
the  height  of  several  feet,  and  so  endeavor  to  cast  himself  across  the 
tightened  line,  which,  if  he  succeed  in  doing,  he  shall  break  it  surely, 
and  escape.  The  counter-movement  to  this  dodge,  which  is  often 
repeated  many  times  in  rapid  succession,  is  to  sink  the  top  of  the  rod 
quickly,  so  as  to  slacken  the  line,  and  suffer  the  fish  to  strike  it  only 
wh  'n  lying  in  a  bight  on  the  water  ;  but  care  must  again  bo  taken 
hore  to  reel  it  in  again  quickly,  lest  it  may  become  entangled  by  the 
fish  rushing  suddenly  in  towards  the  angler. 

Beyond  this  there  is  not  much  to  say  on  the  score  of  playing  a 
hooked  fish  ;  the  great  end  and  object  is  to  keep  him,  with  as  heavy 
a  strain  as  you  can  venture  to  support  upon  his  mouth,  with  his  head 
down  stream  ;  for  in  that  position  the  water  enters  his  gills  the  wrong 
way,  so  that  the  vital  principle  of  the  oxygen  cannot  be  separated  from 
it  by  the  branchial  apparatus,  and  the  fish  naturally  dies  by  suffoca- 
tion, or  by  something  analogous  to  drowning. 

To  eff'ect  this,  very  much  delicacy  and  nicety  of  touch  are  requisite  ; 
tho  rushes  of  the  fish  are  sometimes  of  fearful  impetus  and  velocity, 
and  sustained  for  such  a  length  of  time  as  to  take  nearly  all  the  line 
off  the  reel,  and  to  compel  tho  angler  to  run  at  full  speed,  up  or  down 
the  bank,  as  it  may  be,  in  order  to  avoid  smashing  his  tackle.  It  is 
well  here  to  observe,  that  it  is  in  all  eases  the  best  plan  to  follow  your 
fish  as  early  in  the  game,  and  as  rapidly,  as  you  can,  rather  than  to  let 
off'  too  much  line,  as  you  thereby  keep  so  much  in  hand  for  an 
emergency. 

The  great  principle  Is,  to  make  the  fish  pull  as  hard  as  possible 
without  ceding  line,  and  never  to  give  him  an  inch  that  ho  does  not 
exact  from  you  by  force  ;  the  knowledge  of  the  exact  amount  of  re- 
sistance which  you  may  off'er,  and  of  the  when  exactly  and  how  much 
you  must  yield,  is  the  grand  proof  of  the  Salmon-fisher's  science.  If 
he  run  for  a  rock,  against  which  to  smash  your  tackle,  or  for  a  cascade 
or  cataract,  over  which  you  cannot  pilot  him  with  a  hope  of  success, 
you  must  resist  hira  to  the  last,  which  is  done  by  advancing  the  butt, 
firmly  grasped,  toward  him,  and  bearing  your  rod  backward  over  your 
17 


250 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


right  shoulder,  thereby  compelling  him  to  strain  out  the  lino,  tho 
velocity  of  which  you  must  regulate  with  the  ball  of  your  thumb,  inch 
by  inch  from  the  reel,  against  tho  whole  reluctance  and  spring  of  the 
elastic  rod. 

When  the  fish  runs  in,  the  rod  must  be  hold  nearly  erect,  and  the 
line  reeled  in  as  quickly  as  possible.  If  tho  fish  turn  sulky,  as  he  will 
sometimes,  and  plunge  down  to  the  bottom,  lying  there  like  a  stone  or 
a  lump  of  lead,  he  must  be  aroused  and  forced  to  run  again  by  a  peb- 
ble cast  in  as  closely  as  may  be  to  the  spot  where  he  lies,  and  then  his 
run  must  be  alternately  humored  and  controlled,  like  tho  whims  of  a 
pretty  woman,  until  his  resistance  is  overpowered,  and,  like  her,  he 
yields  him  to  your  will. 

The  fiy  is,  as  I  have  before  observed,  by  far  the  most  effective  and 
killing  bait  for  the  Salmon,  although  it  is  very  doubtful  for  what  the 
animal  mistakes  it,  since  it  has  no  resemblance  in  nature.  The  best  are, 
in  my  opinion,  combinations  of  peacock  herl,  and  jay's  wing,  with  : 
body  of  pink,  blue  or  green  silk  twined  with  gold  or  silver  tinsel ;  there 
are,  however,  many  other  gay  and  gaudy  feathers  which  are  nearly 
equally  killing,  and  every  fisherman  has  his  own  favorites.  The  ac- 
companying plate  contains  at  No.  1,  representations  of  several  varie- 
ties of  Salmon-flies,  and  at  No.  2  of  Lake-flies  for  great  Trout,  which  I 
know  to  be  killing,  as  I  know  them  to  be  beautiful — and  which  were  . 
prepared  especially  for  this  work,  to  my  order,  by  the  Conroys  of  Ful- 
ton-street, New  York,  of  whom  I  have  already  spoken  as,  in  my  opin- 
ion, the  best  rod  and  tackle  maker  in  America,  if  not  perhaps  in  the 
world. 

The  Salmon,  especially  when  quiiu  fresh-run  from  the  sea,  will  take 
the  worm  at  times  greedily ;  for  which  mode  he  must  be  fished  for 
with  a  stiffer  rod,  similar  to  that  used  for  Bass  angling,  with  a  quill- 
float,  and  enough  of  slot  on  the  gut  to  carry  the  bait  down  close  to  the 
bottom.  The  best  worms  are  the  large  loh  or  rfci^-worms,  and  they 
should  be  cleanbed  or  scoured  by  keeping  them  for  several  days  pre- 
vious to  using  them  in  a  pot  full  of  moistened  moss.  Two  worms  shoald 
be  used,  and  they  should  be  baited  thus : 

Enter  the  barb  of  a  large  sized  No.  O,  or  No.  1  Limerick  Salmon- 
hook  at  the  head  of  your  first  worm,  and  bring  it  out  at  the  middle ; 
run  the  worm  quite  up  on  the  gut  abova  th?  arming  of  the  hook . 


THE    IMPLEMENTS   OP    SALMON    FISHING 


961 


again  enter  the  barb  at  the  middle  of  the  second  worm,  and  bring  it  up 
very  nearly  to  the  head.  Draw  down  the  first  worm  to  meet  the 
second,  and  the  bait  will  move  on  the  bottom  with  a  natural  motion. 

Paste  composed  of  roe  of  the  Salmon,  taken  out  when  freshly  killed, 
washed  carefully,  and  cleansed  of  all  the  impurities,  the  blood  and  fila- 
mentous matter,  thoroughly  dried  in  the  air,  salted  with  two  ounces  of 
rock-salt,  and  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of  saltpetre  to  a  pound  of  spawn, 
dried  gently  beforu  a  slow  fire,  or  in  an  oven  at  a  low  heat,  and  then 
potted  down  and  covered  with  melted  lard  or  suet  in  earthen  pots,  is 
a  most  murderous  bait  both  for  Trout  or  Salmon.  When  a  few  weeks 
old,  it  will  cut  out  of  the  pots  like  stiff  cheese,  and  will  adhere  readily 
to  the  hook,  though  it  is  not  amiss  to  bind  it  on  with  a  slip  of  Salmon- 
colored  floss  silk.  This  will  be  found  as  efiFective  for  Brook  Trout  as 
for  Salmon ;  and  it  is  not  unworthy  of  remark  that  the  roe  of  the 
melter  will  most  surely  take  the  female,  and  that  of  the  spawner  the 
male  fish.  It  has  been  hence  suggested  that  if  people  will  fish  on  the 
spawning  beds  when  the  fish  are  in  the  act  of  breeding,  by  using  the 
female  spawn  or  roe,  they  will  do  much  less  mischief  than  by  any  other 
mode,  though  it  is  little  probable  that  the  gothic  savages  wlio  resort 
to  these  practices  at  all  will  trouble  themselves  so  far  as  even  to  en- 
deavor to  do  a  minimum  of  mischief. 

Lastly,  the  Minnow,  the  Shiner,  the  Smelt,  the  Sparling  or  Athc- 
rine,  and  above  all,  the  young  Parr,  are  very  killing  baits,  especially 
T^hen  thei*e  is  a  freshet  in  the  stream,  for  the  Salmon,  upon  spinning- 
tackle. 

A  powerful  long  rod  should  be  used  for  this  mode  of  fishing ;  the 
line  and  reel  as  before,  but  there  should  be  at  least  two  swivols  on  the 
line,  and  a  small  funnel-shaped  piece  of  lead  sliding  upon  the  line. 

There  should  be  one  large  No.  1  Limerick  hook  at  the  end  of  the 
gut,  and  two  smaller,  about  10  and  5,  tied  back  to  back  of  the  larger 
one.  The  smallest  above,  at  the  full  length  of  the  bait,  to  hook  into 
the  lip,  when  the  funnel  will  slide  down  upon  the  nose.  The  second 
hook  should  be  passed  through  the  back  below  the  first  dorsal  fin,  and 
the  large  hook  entered  in  the  solid  part  of  the  body  beside  the  anal 
fin,  and  brought  out  at  the  fork  of  the  tail,  giving  a  curve  to  the  fish, 
which  causes  it,  when  drawn  rapidly  through  swift  water,  to  spin  and 
fiance  beautifully,  in  a  manner  most  attractive  to  this  noble  fish.     All 


i 


859 


AMERICAN  FISHES 


the  fins  should  be  cut  off  except  the  pectoral  on  the  outer  side  of  the 
curve,  which  will  cause  it  to  spin  more  certainly. 

Some  persons  use  a  second  hook-length  with  three  No.  7  hooks  tied 
back  to  back  triangularly,  not  entered  in  the  bait,  but  suffered  to  play 
loosely  around  it :  but  I  see  no  advantage  in  the  addition. 

With  any  of  these  baits,  with  the  art  to  boot,  and  a  clear  eye,  a 
steady  nerve  and  true  hand,  anywhere  almost  eastward  of  the  Kenne- 
bec, and  thence  northward  to  the  grand  St.  Lawrence,  the  adventurous 
fisherman  is  certain  of  such  sport,  as,  once  tried,  makes  all  other  fishing 
for  over  more  stale,  weary,  and  unprofitable. 


TROUT    rUHINO. 


»63 


TROUT  FISHING. 


This  charming  sport,  second  only  in  its  excitement  to  the  hIcHI 
which  it  requires,  and  in  the  quality  of  the  captive,  to  its  elder  nister, 
Salmon-fishing,  cannot  be  enjoyed  in  any  part  of  the  known  world  in 
greater  perfection  than  on  the  northern  continent  of  America. 

Everywhere  from  the  Arctic  Circle  to  somewhere  about  the  forty- 
fourth  degree  of  north  latitude,  everywhere  from  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  the  wild  shores  of  Gaspe  and  Chaleurs  to  the  far  coasts 
of  the  Pacific,  and  the  swift  streams  of  Oregon,  this  beautiful  and 
active  fish  is  found  abundant,  in  every  spring-stream  and  fountain- 
nourished  lakelet. 

Everywhere  he  is  pursued  eagerly,  and  esteemed  a  prize  worthy  of 
the  sportsman's  skill  and  the  epicure's  idolatry.  To  the  northward 
and  eastward  he  is,  however,  both  the  finest  and  the  most  plentiful. 
The  rivers  of  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia  swarm  with  Brook 
Trout  ranging  from  half  a  pound  to  five  pounds  in  weight.  In  the 
streams  of  Maine  and  New  England  they  are  equally  abundant, 
although  they  are  generally  smaller  in  size,  and  are  for  the  most  part 
taken  in  the  small  mountain  streams  from  which  they  rarely  run  down 
to  salt  water ;  whence  their  colors  are  less  brilliant,  and  their  flesh 
inferior  in  flavor. 

In  the  State  of  New  York  they  are  of  unrivalled  excellence,  and 
are  found  in  vast  numbers,  especially  in  the  streams  of  the  south  side 
of  Long  Island,  in  the  lakes  and  rivers  of  the  north-eastern  counties 
which  debouch  into  the  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  in  all  the 
streams  of  the  south-western  tier  of  counties  which  tind  their  way 
southwardly  into  the  Delaware,  the  Susquehannah  and  the  Alleghany. 

All  the  waters  of  Northern  and  Western  Pennsylvania  are  likewise 
admirably  stocked  with  this  delicious  and  game  fish,  nor  has  any  one 
need  to  seek  better  sport  than  he  can  find  at  Carman's  or  Snedocor's 
on  Long  Island.    In  the  Marshpee  river,  on  Cape  Cod,  famous  as  being 


254 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


the  favorite  fishing-ground  of  that  good  sportsman  and  groat  statns- 
man,  Daniul  Wobstor ;  in  tho  Callikoon  and  Bcavcrkill  on  the  cast, 
and  tho  fino  Ponnsylvanian  streams  on  thn  west  of  tho  Delaware ;  in 
the  not-work  of  lakes  and  rivers  which  renders  Hamilton  County  in 
New  York  tho  angler's  earthly  paradise,  or  in  tho  swift  Canadian 
streams  which  swell  the  St.  Lawronoc,  from  the  Michigan  westward  to 
the  Sault  St.  Marie,  and  upward  to  tho  head  of  Lake  Superior,  sport 
is  certain. 

The  implements  of  the  Trout-fisher  are  similar,  except  in  size  and 
power,  to  those  used  in  tho  capture  of  tho  Salmon  ;  but  us  less  strength 
is  necessary  to  subdue,  so  is,  perhaps,  even  greater  delicacy  requisite 
to  ensnare  him. 

The  Trout-rod  should  bo  twelve  feet  long,  and  as  pliant,  almost,  as 
a  coach-whip,  equally  bending  from  the  butt  to  tho  tip.  It  should  be 
composed  of  hickory,  lancowood,  or  bamboo,  with  a  solid  butt  of  ash, 
at  the  extreme  lower  end  of  which  should  be  attached  u  simple  click- 
reel  with  a  balance  handle,  but  without  a  stop,  capable  of  containing 
thirty  yards  of  London  made  hair  and  silk  line,  tapering  equally  from 
the  reel  to  the  point.  The  bottom,  or  leader,  as  it  is  called  generally 
in  America,  should  consist  of  about  five  yards  of  round  tapering  silk- 
worm gut,  and  the  flies  should  be  three- in  number.  Plain  rings  should 
be  used  on  a  fiy-rod,  and  not  tho  new  tubular  metallic  guides,  which 
stiffen  it  too  much,  and  prevent  its  equal  curvature  under  a  strain. 

For  bait-fishing,  spinning  a  minnow,  or  daping  with  a  grasshopper, 
a  stouter  rod  may  be  adopted,  similar  to  that  used  for  ordinary  fresh- 
water, or  shoal  salt-water  fishing. 

The  best  baits  are  the  Salmon-roe,  prepared  as  I  have  described  it, 
common  brandlings  or  dew-worms,  and  any  small  fish,  and  especially 
its  own  young  fry,  which  may  be  used  either  dead  on  spinning  tackle 
.such  as  is  described  above,  or  alive,  hooked  through  the  back  under 
the  first  dorsal  fin,  and  sunk  with  shot  to  within  a  few  inches  of  the  bot- 
tom. In  this  mode,  the  slightest  possible  qiull  float  should  be  adopted. 
The  spinning  is  by  far  the  more  sporting  and  exciting  method ;  and  in 
large  streams  running  directly  into  salt  water,  where  tho  finest  and 
greatest  Trout  are  found,  and  where  they  do  not  willingly  rise  to  the 
fly,  none  is  much  more  killing.  In  addition  to  these,  a  grasshopper 
dropped  deftly  on  the  surface  just  before  the  nose  of  a  fat,  basking,  lazy 


• 


:jM 


■*.  *iim<  A"'. 


•  !  f  r  ('. 


t^'     ■  ('^"grrtwriJ  ol"  that  fxtMni  s.  ■?  stat^s- 

•t>  '  'vt  ,'l:w<tpr ;  in  tlK»  C*il?iik>*»«  mm  iK-a.  --/.ivi-'i  .,.4  i,u&  *'»«<, 

,,»3';.u  ■v-'i' «;•■.  PoiiLn.«vlvaiiii!»ft  **■'«»«'!'■''' '>ft  tli-".  W'..'Ht  ^f  ;*<'•  TWbwa*?^ :;  in 
■Ste**  fti'-t-Wf>rk  of  hill.:':-;  ami  m'-rs  whifili  roudera  lfuji;;:?i'8  €«i«*!*y  in 
,|i^ifs»  York  th.;  rtrtgioy'*  eartiily  paradi-:!^,  or  in  fk^  «<#f.  tv^aliivn 
jAreams  wbifh  sw-ll  the  St.  Lawrence,  fioni  the  MwUigm  ^mk^md  to 
iho  Saull  St.  Mai"5<^)  uud  upward  ;.>  tli-:^  head  nf  Lake  Supfi'ioi-,  sport 
is  certaib.  >;,       *'  ,      • 

't'lu'  itoplements  of  the  Tront-fisher  aro  yiinil^ir.  I'xr'.-pf  m  i^ize  and 
power,  to  tiioso  usL'd  in  thu  capture  'jf  the  Salmon  ;  hut  ;is  li^sf*  streiigtl) 
Is  necessary  to  snhdin',  so  i'-,  porhiips,  oven  en  atf r  d''licaoy  ri  rmisit^3 
to  cnsnaro  him. 

'i"he  Tront-rod  .shouM  ho  tsvdvo  f(.'ot  h)nfj:,  and  as  pliant,  ahiio.-jt,  as 
ii  coach-whip,  equally  liendiio^  from  fho  hntt  to  tho  tip.  It  shouhl  he, 
.{.•oinposid  of  hif'kory.  lanc'wood.  oi-  )i;iml)0".  wJl!;  a  ?o1id  Imttof  a:-h,  ; 
ut  the  I'Xfi-oJ'ic  Imv  r  i:iid  of  wImMj  i-iimiid  ]ie  attacho<i  a  simple  click-  * 
ro(d  with  a  h.'iUne'.^  handlo,  bur  withc'tu  ii  stop,  capahh*  of  eontainins; 
tliirty  ymU  v-f  London  madt  h«ir  and  SV  i!)\o,  *;..p(n-ing  oqnally  from 
?i**?  r#i.d  to  tho  point.  Thi.'  t»o*tini,  <4  ki*»li  r,  a?*  it  u  oalicd  gonorally 
Ma  Aii|i(.=fica,  !-h'iuU1  !'H>mbt  of  obmt.  fh-i'  '.<%i'h  of  round  tiipi'ring  (^ilk- 
wwBfi  giit.  and  tho  HiK*  .■*'t?:*uld  ho  thn*;*.  jw  luunlx'r.  Plain  rings  should 
hi'  iwjed  m  k  %-rod^  and  not  thn  w-^  tuhukr  m*. t:aUif'  Lnnil^?,  which 
stiftV.n  it  too  njucd),  and  pvi-viou  it:^  s't^.v;!.!  curvalJir,'  ««d.if  ?»  ?!train. 

Ftyr  hait-&httig,  spiuaiug  a  )innnow,  or  (htpin,}!;  wiih  a  grasshopper, 
a  stout-r  rod  m>ay  bs  adopted,  simih'.r  i*.'  thut  usad  for  (u'dinajy  fresh- 
water   '  •  ■dioal  i^alt-wato)  fjishing, 

Tlie  )•«  ■  ?»ait8  are  tho  Sahnou-roi^  proparod  sr-  I  have  de;-crihod  it, 
i.'onnuon  r; witlings  <»r  dinv-woruis,  and  any  .suiall  fish,  asid  o.<pcit;ially 
it.'i  own  yo!.*J't'  ^^fy  whi<'h  may  ho  usod  oiiiior  de.nd  on  -pinning  tackle 
.such  a^.  M  dM^x^red'  ar*ve,  or  alivo.  liooked  thi'ouudj  tho  hack  uudi'r 
thr  firsi.  .Iftf.sjil  fe,  and  i:..:5nk  witli  s^hot  to  witliin  a  few  inches  of  tlm  hot- 
tom  lu  fkns  mMm,  thi*  i*ijght»?>*t  po.s.sihle  cpiill  iloat  slnmld  ho  adopted. 
The  spintitfflaf  Ulrj;  jW"  ^h«'  nwr'.»  sporthii.'  and  i'.'ceirima;  luotliod  ;  and  in 
largo  Sslreami'  ruunltig^roo dy  in <:o  j<a!t  water,  wherti  tii?  fin.est.  and 
L^reatest  T«out  ftife  founu.  And  whe.re  tluy  do  not,  willingly  rise  U)  Uie 
fly,  non^^  i^;  tuusS':  more  kiHi-it?.  In  addition  to  the.-e,  a  gra.sshoppor  \ 
droppif'i  d^^ftly  oti  'he  ^i.irfao^^  jvwt  before  tho  nose  of  a  f-it,  ha.«king,  la?,y 


M 


V'.-sh- 


.  I 


<ittt»ilttimmauieii»^is;u. 


\  f 


/ 


TROUT    FISIIINOr. 


255 


Trout,  at  the  end  of  a  short  line,  which  is  called  daping,  will  often- 
times kill  when  all  other  plans  fail ;  shrimps  will  be  found  effective  in 
salt  water  creeks  and  river  mouths,  and  in  those  sea  bays  which  the 
fish  haunts  when  in  its  greatest  perfection,  and  very  frequently  in  the 
same  localities  it  will  bite  at  a  small  white  crab,  a  muscle,  or  the  throat 
with  the  two  pectoral  fins  attached,  of  one  of  its  own  species. 

All  of  these,  however,  pale  before  the  artificial  fly,  which  is  the  most 
legitimate,  the  most  scientific,  the  most  exciting,  because  most  difficult, 
and  lastly,  not  leastly,  the  most  killing,  in  nine  waters  of  ten,  of  all 
the  methods  used  to  capture  him. 

There  has  long  been  a  grand  debate  between  fly-fishers,  as  to 
whether  those  are  the  most  killing  flies  accurately  copied  from  nature, 
or  fancy  flies  similar  to  nothing  in  existence,  composed  of  any  gay  and 
taking  colors.  It  was  formerly  the  general  belief  that  the  first  were 
the  most  taking,  and  in  the  old  books  we  find  regular  rules  laid  down, 
and  particular  flies  ordered  for  every  particular  month  of  the  year. 
But  the  former  opinion  has  now  been  generally,  and  I  think  justly,  dis- 
carded by  the  best  anglers,  while  the  practice  of  such  a  regular 
arrangement  is  now  very  generally  exploded. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  for  the  most  part  the  same  flies  are 
the  most  killing  in  all  waters,  the  world  over,  in  Scotland,  Ireland, 
Norway,  and  in  the  waters  of  America ;  nor  is  there  any  fly  found 
more  excellent  for  general  use,  or  which  possesses  more  ardent  vota- 
ries, than  the  red  hackle,  which  has  probably  killed  more  and  larger 
fish  than  any  that  can  be  named; 

In  America,  Trout-flies  are  used  of  a  much  largei*  size,  and  that 
more  effectively  t' an  in  Europe,  and  the  small  English  fly  is  justly 
loss  estimated  in  those  western  waters.  The  colors  of  the  American 
flies  are  likewise  much  bvicrliter  on  the  whole  than  is  approved  by 
British  anglers,  and  fish  will  not  unfrequently  hero  take  a  gaudy  .scarlet 
ibis  feather  with  a  gold  tinsel  body,  which  a  person  who  should  US3  in 
Europe  would  not  improperly  be  thou^ht  raving  mad. 

The  flies  which  I  hold  the  best  are  the  red  hackle,  the  ginger  hackle, 
the  black  hackle,  occasionally  varied  with  bodies  of  gold  or  silver  tin- 
sel, the  March-brown  or  dun-drake,  the  pale  yellow  dun  and  the  blue 
dun — both  very  killing  fll  !s — the  cow-dung  fly,  the  stone  fly,  alder  fly, 
the  green  and  gray  drak  's;  and  for  night  and  twilight  fi.shing,  any  of 


r= 


256 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


V  .. 


■  f 

I 


the  gray,  cream-colored,  or  mealy  moths ;  of  these  I  prefer  a  large 
white-winged  moth  with  a  black  body.  In  many  waters  some  of  the 
coppery-golden  and  green  peacock  herls  are  found  to  kill  well,  and 
last  season,  1848,  nothing  was  so  successful  on  Long  Island  as  the 
scarlet  ibis  with  a  gold  tinsel  body.  For  my  own  fancy,  however,  I 
decidedly  prefer  the  hackles  of  almost  every  color  and  variety,  from 
the  ginger,  through  all  the  shades  of  cock,  grouse,  partridge,  wood- 
cock, up  to  jet  black  ;  and  my  favorite  cast  is  a  coch-a-bondu  or  soldier 
palmer  for  my  stretcher,  a  ginger  hackle  or-blue  dun  for  my  second, 
and  a  black  palmer  or  a  dotteril  hackle  for  my  first  dropper.  The 
accompanying  plate  of  flies  arc  many  of  the  best  and  most  beautiful 
varieties,  and  there  is  not  one  of  them  which  at  some  time  or  another 
I  have  not  proved  to  bo  killing.  All  these,  as  also  the  large  gaudy 
lake  flies,  marked  No.  2  on  the  plate  preceding  this,  which  very  nearly 
resembles  the  Salmon-fly  except  in  size  only,  and  are  deadly  indeed 
to  the  Trout  of  the  Adirondach  waters,  were  all  prepared  expressly  for 
representation  in  this  work  by  Mr.  Conroy,  and  are  not,  in  my  opinion, 
to  be  surpassed. 

Beyond  this  I  shall  say  nothing  on  the  score  of  flies,  nor  shall  I  enter 
into  any  minute  and  elaborate  descriptions  of  these  or  other  varie- 
ties, with  which  most  books  on  fly-fishing  abound,  usque  ad  nmiseam  ; 
for  I  am  satisfied  that  such  descriptions  must  be  entirely  unsatisfactory 
and  useless  to  the  fisherman,  who  should  attempt  to  tie  flies  by  their 
aid,  without  other  and  more  practical  instruction  ;  and  they  are  so 
well-known  to  all  anglers,  and  to  all  tackle-makers,  by  their  names, 
that  they  can  be  readily  and  unmistakeubly  ordered  by  letter,  and 
obtained  at  any  distance,  from  any  of  the  large  cities.  The  following 
vignette  is  a  representation  of  two  well-known  Ephemerae,  the  com- 
mon Green  Drake  or  May-fly,  and  the  Stone-fly,  in  their  embryo  and 
perfect  stages. 

In  progress  of  this  subject,  I  take  the  liberty  of  quoting,  from  Dr. 
Bethune's  very  beautiful  edition  of  Walton's  Angler,  the  following 
paper,  which  was  drawn  up  and  contributed  to  that  work  by  myself, 
on  the  Trout-fishing  of  Long  Island,  at  the  request  of  the  accomplished 
author.  It  contains  everything  that  I  knew  or  could  collect  at  that 
time  on  this  branch  of  the  subject,  and  as  I  rest  well-assured  that  my 
borrowing  it  will  in  nowise  injure  or  interfere  with  that  beautiful  and 


TROUT    FISHINO. 


267 


Dr. 


admirable  work,  while  I  feel  that  it  would  be  useless  and  absurd  to  re- 
word the  same  ideas  and  opinions,  and  so  render  it  pseudo-original,  I 
do  not  hesitate  to  extract  it  entire : 

"  The  principal  distinctions  that  strike  the  careful  observer  between 
the  Trout  of  Long  Island,  or,  indeed,  I  might  say  North  America  in 
general,  and  those  of  the  Briti.sh  isles,  is,  first,  the  great  uniformity  of 
siz3  on  the  part  of  the  former,  which  rarely  exceed  two  or  three 
pounds  in  weight,  and  never ^  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain, 
five  or  six — and,  secondly,  the  fact  that  in  the  United  States,  Trout 
are  never  taken  in  the  large  rivers,  or,  if  ever,  so  rarely  as  to  prove 
the  rule  by  the  wonder  arising  from  the  exception. 

"  On  Long  Island,  there  are  some  half-dozen  instances  on  record, 
within  three  times  as  many  years,  of  fish,  varying  in  weight  from  four 
to  six  pounds,  taken  with  the  rod  and  line.  Two  of  these  instances 
occur  to  me,  as  connected  with  circumstances  which  may  render  the 
relation  acceptable,  as  of  anecdotes  very  unusual,  and  almost,  but  that 
they  are  proved  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt,  incredible. 

"  Both  these  instances  occurred  at  Stump-pond,  on  the  north  side ; 
one  in  the  pond  itself,  the  other  in  the  mill-pool,  at  the  outlet. 

"  A  gentleman  from  New  York,  thus  runs  the  first  story,  who  had 
never  thrown  a  line,  or  taken  a  Trout  in  his  life,  and  who  had  come 
out,  lately  equipped  with  a  complete  outfit  of  Conroy's  best  and 
strongest  tackle,  all  spick-and-span  new,  and  point  device,  on  throwing 
his  hook,  baited  with  a  common  lob-worm,  into  the  water,  was  greeted 
with  an  immediate  bite,  and  bob  of  the  float,  which  incontinently  dis- 
appeared beneath  the  surface,  carried  away  by  the  hard  pull  of  a 
heavy  fish.  The  novice,  ignorant  of  all  the  soft  and  shrewd  seduc- 
tions of  the  angler's  art,  hauled  in  his  prize,  main  force,  and  actually, 
without  the  aid  of  gaflF  or  landing-net,  brought  to  basket  a  five- 
pounder  ! 

"  The  fact  is  remarkable  ;  the  example  decidedly  unworthy  of  imi- 
tation ! 

"  The  other  instance  to  which  I  have  referred,  is,  in  all  respects, 
except  the  size  of  the  fish,  the  very  opposite  of  the  former  ;  as,  in  it, 
the  success  of  the  fortunate  fisherman  is  due  as  much  to  superior 
science  in  his  craft,  as  his^  in  the  former,  is  attributable  to  blind  and 
unmerited  good  luck. 


n 


I 


258 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


**  The  hero  of  this  anccdoto  is  a  gentleman,  known  by  the  nom  de 
guerre  of  Commodore  Limbrick,  a  character  in  which  he  has  figured 
many  a  day  in  the  columns  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Times,  and  who  is 
universally  allowed  to  be  one  of  the  best  and  most  experienced,  as 
well  as  the  oldest  fisherman  of  that  city. 

"  After  having  fished  all  the  morning,  with  various  success,  in  the 
pond,  he  ascertained,  it  seems,  that  in  the  pool  below  the  mill  there 
was  a  fish  of  extraordinary  size,  which  had  been  observed  repeatedly, 
and  fished  for  constantly,  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  evening,  with 
every  difi'erent  variety  of  bait,  to  no  purpose.  Hearing  this,  he  betook 
himself  to  the  miller,  and  there  having  verified  the  information  which 
he  had  received,  and  having  satisfied  himself  that  neither  fly  nor  min- 
now, gentle  nor  red-worm,  would  attract  the  great  Trout,  he  procured, 
horresco  referens,  a  mouse  from  the  miller's  trap,  and  proceeding  to 
troll  therewith,  took,  at  the  first  cast  of  that  inordinate  dainty,  a  fish 
that  weighed  four  pounds  and  three-quarters  ! 

"  Another  fish  or  two  of  the  like  dimensions  have  been  taken  in 
LiflF.  Snedecor's  and  in  Carman's  streams ;  and  it  is  ou  record,  that 
at  Fireplace,  many  years  since,  a  Trout  was  taken  of  eleven  pounds. 
A  rough  drawing  of  this  fish  is  still  to  be  seen  on  the  wall  of  the  tavern 
bar-room,  but  it  has  every  appearance  of  being  the  sketch  of  a  Sal- 
mon ;  and  I  am  informed  by  a  thorough  sportsman,  who  remembers 
the  time  and  the  oce^rrence,  although  he  did  not  see  the  fish,  that  no 
doubt  was  entertained  by  experienced  anglers  who  did  see  it,  of  its 
being  in  truth  a  Salmon. 

"  In  the  double-pond  among  the  Musconetcong  Hills,  on  the  con- 
fines of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  in  the  Greenwood  lake  in  the 
same  region,  and  in  some  other  ponds  in  Orange  County,  Brook  Trout 
have  been  occasionally  taken  of  the  same  unusual  size.  One  fish  I  saw 
myself  on  last  New  Year's  Day,  which,  shameful  to  tell !  had  been 
caught  through  the  ice,  near  Newburgh.  This  fish  weighed  an  ounce 
or  two  above  five  pounds,  and  was  well-fed,  and  apparently  in  good 
condition — but,  as  I  said  before,  all  these  must  be  taken  as  excey^  Ir.r  s, 
proving  the  rule,  that  Trout  in  American  waters  rarely  exceed  two  or 
three  pounds  in  weight,  and  never  compare  in  size  with  the  fish  taken 
in  England,  and  still  less  with  those  of  the  Scottish  and  Irish  waters, 
in  all  of  which,  the  regular,  red-spotted,  yellow-finned  Brook  Trout 

„  .      ■        -       /  ■-  --       ■     '      '  '       - 


TROUT    FISHING. 


259 


are  constantly  taken,  with  the  fly,  of  ten  pounds  weight  and  upward ; 
and  sometimes,  in  the  lakes  of  Ireland  and  Cumberland,  in  tho  Black- 
water,  Coquet,  and  Stour  rivers,  attain  to  tho  enormous  bulk  of  twenty- 
six  and  thirty  pounds. 

"  With  regard  to  the  second  point  of  distinction,  I  have  never  heard 
of  a  Trout  being  taken  at  all  in  tho  Hudson  ;  nover  in  the  Delaware, 
even  so  far  up  as  Mil  ford,  where  the  tributaries  of  that  river  abound 
in  large  and  well-fed  fish  ;  nover  in  the  lower  waters  of  the  Connec- 
ticut, or  any  Eastern  river  so  far  as  the  Penobscot,  although  the  head 
watsrs  of  all  these  fine  and  limpid  rivers  teem  with  fi.sh  of  high  color 
and  flavor.  In  Great  Britain,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  to  the  larger,  if 
not  to  the  largest,  rivers  that  the  angler  looks  altogether  for  good 
sport  and  large  fish ;  and  it  is  there  as  rare  a  thing  to  take  a  fish  a 
pour.d  weight  in  a  rivulet  or  brook,  as  it  is  here  to  catch  a  Trout  at 
all  in  a  large  river. 

'•  In  Canada,  and  in  the  British  Provinces  to  the  eastward  of  Maine, 
it  is  true  that  Sea  Trout,  or  Salmon  Peel,  are  taken  of  large  size  in 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  in  the  rivers  falling  into  the  bays  of  Gaspd  and 
Chaleurs ;  but  although  occasionally  confounded  with  the  Trout  proper, 
this  is  in  truth  a  totally  different  fish,  and  one,  so  far  as  I  know,  which 
is  never  taken  in  any  of  the  waters  of  the  United  States. 

"  In  appearance,  the  Brook  Trout  of  America  and  Great  Britain 
are  to  my  eye  almost  identical ;  both  presenting,  in  well-fed  and 
well-conditioned  fish,  the  same  smallness  of  head,  depth  of  belly, 
and  breadth  of  back  ;  the  same  silvery  lustre  of  the  scales,  and  the 
same  bright  crimson  spots  The  flesh  of  the  American  fish,  when 
in  prime  order,  and  taken  in  the  best  waters,  is,  I  must  confess,  of  a 
deeper  red  hue,  and  of  a  higher  flavor,  than  that  of  any  which  it  has 
been  my  fortune  to  taste  at  home — and  I  have  often  eaten  the  Thames 
Trout,  which,  rarely  taken  below  tec  pounds  in  weight,  are  esteemed 
by  epicures  the  very  best  of  the  species. 

"  We  travel  now,  be  it  observed,  by  railroad  to  our  fishing  stations, 
but  for  tho  convenience  of  reviewing  the  country,  and  scanning  the 
waters,  in  regular  succession  as  we  pass  eastward,  I  will  suppose  that, 
as  in  the  pleasant  days  of  old,  we  are  rolling  along  in  our  light  wagon, 
over  the  level  roads,  on  a  mild  afternoon  in  the  latter  days  of  March, 
or  the  first  of  April.  .  > 


■»tiiiiJm4iimtitmhlUMMtJi-iM*^.AtatMummjikA  ^ 


260 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


"  We  have  started  from  WilHamsburgh  or  Brooklyn,  after  an  earlj 
dinner ;  passed  through  Jamaica ;  rolled  over  the  plains  towards 
Hempstead ;  and,  passing  through  it  without  stoppage,  have  turned 
suddenly  to  the  right  towards  the  bays,  beyond  which  lies  the  beach, 
with  the  incessant  surge  of  the  Atlantic  moaning  in  the  deep  monotony 
of  its  calm,  or  thundering  in  the  hoarse  fury  of  its  storm,  against  its 
pebbly  barrier.  • 

"Now  we  are  in  the  land  of  Trout  streams,  baymen,  and  wild 
fowl. 

* 

"  The  rippling  dash  of  falling  waters  catches  our  ear,  at  every  half- 
mile  as  we  roll  along,  and  every  here  and  there,  the  raised  bank  on 
our  left  hand  with  its  line  of  stunted  willows  bent  landward  by  the 
strong  sea-breeze,  the  sluice-gate,  and  the  little  bridge,  with  the  clear 
stream  rushing  seaward  under  it,  tell  us  that  we  are  passing  a  Trout 
pond. 

"  On  the  right  hand,  the  salt  meadows  stretch  away,  a  wide,  waste, 
desolate  expanse,  to  the  bays,  which  glitter  afar  off'  under  the  declin- 
ing sun,  whence  you  can  hear  at  times  the  bellowing  roar  of  a  heavy 
gun,  telling  of  decimated  flocks  of  brant  and  broadbill.  * 

"  Now  we  pass  by  a  larger  pond  than  any  we  have  yet  seen,  with  a 
mill  at  its  outlet,  and  in  a  mile  farther,  pull  up  at  the  door  of  Jem 
Smith's  tavern. 

"  And  there  we  will  halt  to-night,  although  it  be  a  better  station  for 
fowling  than  for  fishing,  for  we  ar*^  sure  of  neat  though  homely  accom- 
modation, and  of  a  kindly  welcome  ;  and  here  it  is  that  the  first  essay 
is  to  be  made  of  Long  Island  waters. 

"  On  this  stream  there  are  two  ponds,  both  of  which  were  formerly 
private  property,  and  closed  against  all  persons  except  those  who  were 
furnished  with  a  permit ;  they  are  now  open  to  all  persons  indiscrimi- 
nately, and  I  believe  without  restriction  as  to  the  number  that  may  be 
taken  by  each  individual,  or  by  a  party.  The  consequence  of  this  is, 
that  these  ponds  have  deteriorated  very  rapidly,  and  that,  although 
they  are  well-stocked  with  small  fish  of  fair  flavor  and  quality.  Trout 
are  rarely  taken  of  such  a  size  as  to  remunerate  the  exertions  of  a 
good  fisherman.  Half  a  pound  may  be  taken  as  a  good  average  of  the 
fish  killed  here.  In  the  creek  below,  where  the  tide  makes,  there  are, 
of  course,  fish,  but  I  never  have  heard  of  much  work  being  done  in  it ; 


TROUT    FI8HIN0. 


361 


and,  in  truth,  except  that  this  is  tho  first  southern  pon«^     '  any  note,  I 
would  hardly  advise  the  angler  to  pause  here. 

"  About  a  mile  and  a  half  farther  eastward  is  a  large  pond,  and  a 
fine  house,  both  recently  constructed  at  a  great  exponso  by  Judge 
Jonc« — the  former  exclusively  designed  as  a  fish-pond  The  place 
has,  however,  passed  out  of  his  hands,  and  the  house  is  now  kept  as  a 
hotel  by  one  of  the  Sncdecors.  The  pond  has  hitherto  been  private, 
but  is  now  open,  though  with  a  limitation.  It  is  well-stocked  with 
fish  of  a  fair  size.  When  I  was  last  there,  a  fortnight  since,  a  gentle- 
man had  taken  eight  fish,  weighing  as  many  pounds,  with  the  fly  that 
morning.  The  largest  did  not  exceed  a  pound  and  a  half,  but  they 
were  handsome,  clean,  well-fed  fish,  and,  as  the  day  was  anything  but 
propitious,  easterly  wind,  and  very  raw  and  cold,  I  considered  it  fair 
sport.  He  had  not  been  fishing  above  a  couple  of  hours.  I  under- 
stand, however,  that  there  are  many  Pike  in  this  pond,  and  in  the 
stream  that  supplies  it ;  and  I  much  fear  that  this  must  ultimately 
prove  destructive  to  all  the  fish  in  the  water,  although  those  resident 
on  the  spot  assert  that  the  Pike  never  grows  in  that  region  to  above 
half  a  pound,  and  rarely  to  that  weight,  and  that  little,  if  any,  detri- 
ment is  observed  to  arise  from  his  presence. 

"  This,  however,  I  cannot  believe,  for  the  growth  of  the  Pike  is 
usually  almost  as  rapid  as  his  voracity  is  excessive  ;  and  I  am  aware 
of  many  instances,  both  in  the  United  States  and  in  England,  whese 
ponds  and  streams,  excellently  stocked  with  Trout,  have  been  utterly 
devastated  and  rendered  worthless  by  the  introduction  of  this  shark 
of  the  fresh  waters. 

"  The  house  is  well-kept,  as  is  almost  invariably  the  case  on  Long 
Island ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  angler  may  pass  some  days  here 
with  pleasure. 

"  Some  miles  beyond  this,  still  keeping  the  southside  road,  we  come 
to  Babylon,  where  there  is  an  excellent  house,  under  the  management 
of  Mr.  Concklin,  of  whom  all  accommodation  may  be  obtained,  both 
as  regards  fowl-shooting  in  the  bays  and  Trout-fishing  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. There  are  several  ponds  and  streams  more  or  less  well-stocked 
in  this  vicinity,  but  none  of  any  particular  note,  eitiier  for  the  size  or 
flavor  of  the  fish. 

"  Such,  however,  is  not  the  case  with  the  next  station  at  which  we 


2t52 


AMERICAN  FISHGI. 


nrrivo,  Liif.  Snedeoor^s — in  whose  pond  the  fish  run  to  a  larger  siie 
than  in  any  water  wo  have  yet  noted.  The  Trout  here,  both  in  the 
pond  and  in  the  etrcam  below,  are  noted  for  their  great  beauty,  both 
of  form  and  color ;  and  although  there  is  some  debate  among  con- 
noisseurs as  to  the  comparative  flavor  of  Sncdccor's  fish  and  those 
taken  at  Carman's,  eighteen  miles  further  east,  the  judgment  of  the 
best  sportsmen  inclines  to  the  former. 

"  The  pond  is  of  the  same  character  with  those  which  I  have  de- 
scribed heretofore,  and  can  be  fished  only  from  boats.  It  is  open  to 
all  anglers,  but  the  number  of  fish  to  be  basketed  by  each  person  in 
one  day  is  limited  to  a  dozen.  In  the  stream  there  is  no  limit,  nor 
indeed  can  there  be,  as  the  tide-waters  cannot  be  preserved,  or  the 
free  right  of  fishing  them  prohibited.  The  Trout  here  are  not  only 
very  numerous  and  of  the  first  quality  of  excellence — their  flceh  b^iriff 
redder  than  that  of  the  Salmon — but  very  large  ;  the  average  pro- 
bably exceeds  a  pound,  and  fish  of  two  and  two  and  a  half  pounds' 
weight  are  taken  so  frequently  as  to  be  no  rarity. 

"  The  outlet  of  this  pond,  after  running  a  few  hundred  yards,  opens 
upon  the  salt  meadows,  where  there  is  no  obstacle  whatever  to  throw- 
ing a  long  line.  It  is  broader  and  longer  than  any  stream  we  have 
hitherto  encountered,  and  is  incomparably  the  best,  containing  fish 
even  larger  than  those  of  the  pond  above,  and,  in  my  opinion,  of  a 
finer  flavor.  I  believe  it,  indeed,  to  be  an  indisputable  fact,  that 
Trout,  which  have  access  to  salt  water,  are  invariably  more  highly 
colored  and  flavored  than  those  which  arc  confined  to  fresh  streams 
by  natural  or  artificial  obstacles. 

"  There  is  no  distinction,  of  which  I  am  aware,  in  favor  of  pond  or 
stream,  for  the  use  of  the  fly,  the  fish  taking  it  readily  in  cither, 
although  as  a  general  rule  they  will  rise  to  it  earlier  in  the  fresh,  than 
in  the  tide-water. 

"  At  some  distance  down  this  stream  there  is  a  range  of  willows  on 
the  bank,  nearly  opposite  to  a  place  owned  by  Mrs.  Ludlow  ;-  and 
under  the  trees  are  some  holes  famous  for  being  the  resorts  of  the 
largest  fish,  which  affect  here  the  deepest  water  and  the  principal 
channel.  Here,  as  in  the  pond,  fish  of  two  and  a  half  pounds  are  no 
rarity,  and,  in  fact,  such  are  taken  here  more  frequently  than  above 
I  should  say  that  one  would  rarely  hook  a  Trout  in  this  stream  under 


TROUT   riSHINO. 


one  and  a  half  pounds  ;  and  tho  truo  angler  well  knows  that  a  well- 
conditionod  fresh-run  fish,  from  this  size  to  a  pound  larger,  on  tho 
finest  and  most  delicate  tackle,  will  give  hiui  nothing  of  which  to  com- 
plain in  tho  way  of  exercise  or  excitement. 

"  At  a  short  distance  from  Sncdecor's  is  another  sti  cam,  known  an 
Green's  Creek,  which  contains  a  peculiar  and  distinct  variety  of  Trout, 
which  is  called  in  that  district  the  Silver  Trout.  I  have  not  seen  this 
fish,  but  learn  from  good  sportsmen  that  it  is  of  a  much  lighter  and 
more  pearly  hue  than  tho  common  Trout,  the  bright  and  silvery  lustre 
of  the  scales  prevailing  over  the  buck  and  shoulders.  It  is  crimson 
spotted,  but  the  fins  are  less  strongly  yellow,  and  it  is  perhaps  a 
slenderer  fish  in  form.  Tho  flesh  is  said  to  be  firm  and  well-flavored. 
The  Silver  Trout  is  rarely  taken  much  over  or  nmch  under  a  pound 
in  weight,  and  rises  to  the  fly  or  takes  the  bait  indiscriminately.  This 
stream  has,  I  know  not  wherefore,  of  late  years  lost  much  of  its  cele- 
brity, and  is  rarely  visited  by  the  best  sportsmen. 

At  Ptttchogue,  yet  a  few  miles  further,  there  is  a  very  largo  pond, 
which  was  formerly  perhaps  the  most  famous  on  tho  island,  both  for 
the  abundance  and  the  size  of  the  fish  which  it  contained.  They  have, 
however,  become  latterly  so  scarce,  that  few  persons  from  a  distance 
think  it  worth  their  while  to  pause  there,  but  proceed  at  once  to  Sam 
Carman's,  at  Fireplace,  eighteen  miles  eastward  from  LifF.  Snedecor's; 
thes3  two  being  in  fact  the  par  excellence  fishing  grounds  of  the  Island, 
and  the  difference  between  the  two  rather  a  matter  of  individual  pre- 
judice and  fancy,  than  of  any  real  or  well-grounded  opinion. 

"  The  character  of  the  fishing  at  Fireplace  is  nearly  similar  to  that 
at  Islip  ;  the  stream  flowing  from  the  pond  is  larger,  and  contains 
much  larger  fish,  the  njost  beautiful,  both  in  shape  and  '  ,  i^htness  of 
color,  of  any  on  the  island.  In  this  stream,  two  pounds  is  a  very  com- 
mon size  ;  perhaps,  fish  are  as  frequently  taken  of  this  weight  as  under 
it,  and  upwards  to  four  pounds.  Their  flesh  is  very  highly  colored, 
and  their  flavor,  as  I  have  observed  before,  second  to  none.  Indeed, 
it  is  but  a  few  years  since  Carman's  fish  were  estimated  by  old  sports- 
men the  only  fish  worth  eating  ;  of  late,  however,  fashion — which  rules 
in  gastronomic  tastes  as  otherwise — has  veered  a  little  in  favor  of  the 
Islip  Trout,  and  it  remains  at  present  a  debatable  point  between  the 
two.     The  course  of  Carman's  stream  lies  chiefly  through  open  salt 


264 


AMERICAN  riSllCS. 


meadows,  and  tho  bankii  are  entirely  dcBtituto  of  covert,  to  that  very 
careful  and  delicate  fishing  is  noccsnary  in  order  to  fill  a  basket. 
Even  with  ground  bait  it  is  desirable  to  keep  completely  out  of  sight, 
walking  as  far  from  the  bank  as  possible,  and  to  avoid  jarring  tho 
water,  so  wary  and  shy  are  tho  larger  fish.  It  is  also  advisable  to  fish 
down  wind.  Trolling  is  very  successful  in  this  water,  tho  same  pre- 
cautions being  taken,  and  tho  bait-fish  being  dropped  as  lightly  on  the 
surface,  as  if  it  were  a  fly,  so  as  to  create  neither  splash  nor  sound. 
The  pond  above  is  likewise  deservedly  belcbruted,  tho  fish  averaging 
at  least  a  pound  in  weight,  and  equal  in  all  respects  to  any  pond 
Trout  in  this  or  any  other  region.  The  fly-fishing  here  in  season  is 
probably  tho  best  on  Long  Island,  although  of  late,  hero,  aa  every- 
where else,  Trout  arc  becoming  comparatively  few  in  number ;  so  that 
it  has  been  found  necessary  to  impose  a  limit  on  sportsmen. 

"  Not  many  years  ago,  a  celebrated  English  shot  and  angler,  who 
has  since  left  this  country,  and  who,  I  believe,  was  among  tho  first,  if 
not  tho  very  first,  to  use  the  fly  on  Long  Island  waters,  took  between 
forty  and  fifty  good  fish  in  this  pond  before  dinner,  and  in  the  after- 
noon basketed  above  a  dozen  of  yet  larger  size  in  the  stream  below. 

"  This  feat,  the  like  of  which  will  not,  I  fear,  be  soon  heard  of 
again,  was  performed  with  a  fly,  tho  body  of  which  was  composed  of 
hare's-ear  fur,  and  the  hackle  of  a  woodcock's  wings — a  very  killing 
fly,  be  it  observed,  for  all  waters,  especially  early  in  the  season. 

"  On  the  same  stream  with  Carman's  pond,  and  at  but  a  short  dis- 
tance above  it,  is  another  called  Middle  Island  Pond,  with  a  saw  and 
flour-mill  at  the  outlet,  which  contains  a  great  number  of  fish,  of  very 
large  and  very  uniform  size,  running  from  one  and  a  half  to  two 
pounds  weight.  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  the  Trout  in  the 
lower  pond  being  esteemed  the  best,  those  in  the  upper  should  be  tho 
worst  of  any  taken  on  the  south  side  of  the  island.  Such,  notwith- 
standing, is  the  case  ;  they  are  long,  shallow,  ill-fed  fish,  dingy- 
colored,  and  woody-flavored.  They  are  not,  however,  black-mouthed, 
as  are  the  fish  of  a  pond  which  I  shall  liave  occasion  to  mention  here- 
after. 

"  I  remember  that  a  fact  of  the  same  sort  is  rr  oorded  of  two  lakes, 
I  think  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  connected  bv  a  short  stream  running 
through  a  bog  meadow.     In  the  upper  of  these  lakes  the  fish,  as  here, 


^w 


TROUT    riSIIINO. 


2bS 


arc  worthK'88 — in  tlu-  lower  Huporlutivu  ;  and  they  ore  nuvor  known  to 
int(>ruiiii<;lo.  How  tliH  hHouIiI  bo,  cannot  well  bo  oxpluincd  ;  for, 
gruntiiiu'  tliut  the  czccUcnci'  of  the  QhU  arisog  from  the  Hoil  und  food, 
and  that  the  inferior  fish  iD)provuN  on  coming  into  the  superior  water, 
still  tkor  '  muHt  bo  a  tranHition  Htuto. 

"  With  this  pond  I  shall  close  my  notioo  of  tho  south  nidn  wntcrn, 
merely  addin;j;  that  at  Moritches,  and  yet  further  cast,  there  are  many 
streams  and  lukelots  abounding  in  fish,  though  inferior  to  those  of  tho 
waters  1  have  enumerated,  both  in  size  and  (juality  ;  and  thesu  are,  I 
believe,  all  opt>n  without  limit  to  all  persons  who  det^ire  to  fish  tliem. 

"  It  may  bo  worth  while  here  to  mention,  for  the  benefit  of  Htrangers, 
that  tho  houses  kept  by  Snedccor  and  Carman  arc  by  no  means 
country  taverns,  at  which  nothing  can  be  obtained,  as  is  often  tho  case 
in  th»  interior,  but  hard  salt  ham  and  tough  hens  just  slaughtered. 
Being  frequented  by  gentlemen  entirely,  they  are  admirable  hotels  in 
every  respect. 

"  I  will  now  turn,  for  a  moment,  to  tho  north  side,  on  which  there 
are  also  many  streams  containing  Trout,  but  none,  with  a  single  ex- 
ception, which  can  show  size  or  numbers  against  the  southern  waters. 
That  exception  is  S  imp  Pond,  near  Smitli town,  now  rented  to  a 
company  of  gentlemen,  and  of  course  shut  to  the  public  in  general. 
The  fish  in  this  large  sheet  of  water  arc  very  numerous,  and  very 
large,  but  arc  for  the  most  part  ill-shaped,  ill-conditioned,  and  inferior 
in  flavor — long,  lank  fish,  with  very  large  black  mouths.  I  have  been 
informed  that  in  latter  years  the  fish  in  this  water  have  been  gradually 
impr  oving,  but  of  this  1  cannot  speak  from  personal  experience  ;  it  is, 
however,  notorious,  that  occasionally  Trout  of  very  fine  quality,  both 
in  appearance  and  flavor,  have  been  caught  here  ;  which  is  somewhat 
remarkable,  inasmuch  as  the  same  feeding  grounds  rarely  produce  two 
diff'erent  qualities  offish. 

"  With  regard  to  weather,  a  darkish  day,  with  a  moderately  brisk 
breeze,  suflicicnt  to  make  a  strong  ripple  on  the  water,  is  the  most 
favorable.  It  is  somewhat  singular,  that  in  spite  of  the  generally  re- 
ceived opinion  that  southerly  or  south-westerly  weather  is  tho  only 
weather  for  Trout-fishing,  few  old  Long  Island  anglers  are  to  be  found 
who  cannot  state  that  they  have  taken  as  many,  some  say  vwre,  fish 
during  the  prevalence  of  easterly  winds,  as  in  any  weather.  A  friend 
18 


266 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


of  mine,  on  whose  authority  I  can  perfectly  rely,  and  to  whom  I  gladly 
record  my  indebtedness  for  many  facts  stated  in  this  paper,  assures 
me  that  he  has  never  known  Trout  to  take  the  fly  more  freely  than 
dxiring  a  northeasterly  snow-storm.  Still,  I  must  consider  these  as 
exceptions  to  the  general  rule ;  and  I  at  least  would  select,  if  I  had 
my  choice,  '  a  southerly  wind  and  a  cloudy  sky' — always  barring 
thunder — and  no  objection  to  a  slight  sprinkling  of  warm  rain. 

"  There  is  another  peculiarity  to  observe  in  the  Long  Island  waters 
— and,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  them  only — that  Trout  bite  decidedly 
better  and  more  freely,  when  the  water  is  very  fine  and  clear,  than 
when  it  is  in  flood  and  turbid.  Indeed,  if  there  be  a  good  ripple  on 
the  surface,  the  water  can  hardly  be  too  transparent.  ' 

"  It  has  been  suggested  to  me,  that  this  may  be  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  in  flood  the  waters  are  so  well  tilled  with  natural  bait, 
that  the  fish  become  gorged  and  lazy.  I  cannot  say,  however,  that 
this  is  perfectly  satisfactory  to  me ;  as  the  same  must  be  the  case, 
more  or  less,  in  all  waters  ;  whereas  it  is  unquestionably  the  case, 
wherever  I  have  fished,  except  on  Long  Island,  that  Trout  are  more 
easily  taken  in  turbid  than  in  fine  water. 

"  As  connected  with  the  foregoing  remarks,  I  will  here  add,  that, 
as  a  general  rule,  the  minnow,  with  spinning  or  trolling  tackle,  is 
found  to  be  more  killing  than  ground  bait  in  the  ponds,  and  vice  versa, 
in  the  tide  streams — probably  from  the  mere  fact  that  the  minnow  is. 
the  rarer  in  the  one  water,  the  red-worm  in  the  other,  and  that  each 
by  its  rarity  becomes  the  greater  dainty." 

Beyond  this  I  have  nothing  to  add,  with  respect  to  Trout-fishing, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  very  general  observations  on  the  moat 
likely  times,  seasons,  and  places  in  which  to  fish  for  the  Trout,  since 
the  mode  of  taking  them  with  the  fly  is  in  all  respects  the  same  as 
that  already  given  under  the  head  of  Salmon-fishing,  the  modes  of 
casting  for,  striking  and  playing  these  kindred  fishes  being  in  all 
respects  identical. 

In  the  first  place,  I  am  clearly  of  opinion  that  for  very  early  fishing 
in  March  and  April  there  is  no  place  on  this  continent  at  all  compa- 
rable to  Long  Island,  where  all  along  the  south  shore  thoy  can  be 
taken  in  numbers  almost  innumerable,  in  every  pond,  stream,  and  salt 
oreek,  until  the  end  of  July,  when  they  cease  to  bite  freely.     It  is 


( 


TROUT    FISHING. 


267 


worthy  of  obscrvalion  that  very  early  in  the  soason  the  bait  is  more 
killing  than  the  fly,  but  that  from  May  to  the  end  of  the  soaaon  the  fly- 
flsher  will  fill  his  creel  when  the  bait-fisher  will  go  empty-handed  home. 

In  the  salt  creeks  the  fish  take  the  fly  far  less  willingly  than  the  bait ; 
and  in  Carman's  Creek,  which  is  very  decidedly  the  best  Trout  river 
on  Long  Island,  it  is  said  that  there  is  but  one  example  of  a  fish  being 
killed  with  the  fly,  by  an  old  friend  of  my  own,  Mr.  Luxford,  formerly 
of  H.  M.'s  Royal  Dragoons,  in  whose  eye,  should  this  moot  it,  these 
words  may  awaken  not  unpleasant  reminiscences  of  his  visit  to  the 
United  States,  and  of  his  many,  many  sporting  rambles  with  Frank 
Forester. 

In  Carman's  River  the  largest  fish  in  America  are,  I  think  it  will 
be  allowed,  mostly  caught,  running  often  quite  up  to  five  lbs.  weight, 
and  I  fully  believe  that  if  it  were  fished  patiently  and  resolutely,  espe- 
cially at  the  gray  twilight,  or  in  the  shimmering  moon-shine  quite 
down  to  the  bay,  through  the  salt  meadows,  with  a  small  Trout  on  good 
spinning-tackle  with  three  swivels,  or  with  a  very  large  gaudy  fly,  sunk 
by  means  of  a  shot  to  several  inches  below  the  surface,  fish  might  be 
taken  of  seven  or  eight  pounds  weight.  After  Long  Island  fishing  is 
nearly  at  an  end,  commences,  and  continues  quite  until  September, 
that  in  the  crystal  streams  of  the  Southern  New  York  counties,  in  the 
Pennsylvanian  streams,  jtnd  even  later  in  the  waters  of  the  Adirondach 
Highlands  and  later  yet  at  the  Sault  St.  Marie. 

The  Juniata,  the  Wyoming,  the  upper  Delaware,  the  upper  Alle- 
ghany and  the  upper  Susquchannah  swarm  with  fish,  as  well  as  all 
theiv  tributaries.  The  former  rivers,  and  many  another  equally  fine 
streams  in  the  Alleghany  and  Blue  ridges,  are  within  easy  striking  dis- 
tance of  Philadelphia;  all  the  waters  of  the  Delaware  and  Susquchan- 
nah rivers  can  be  reached  in  a  day  from  New  York,  by  the  Morris 
and  Erie  railroad ;  nor  is  there  any  lovelier  or  more  romant'c  region, 
nor  any  waters  dearer  to  the  angler,  than  those  which  are  now  oponod 
to  the  world  by  that  noble  avenue  which  is  already  complete  so  far  as 
to  Ow3go,  and  which  will  soon  link  with  its  iron  chain,  Erie  nnd  all 
the  uppor  lakes  to  the  Atlantic  sea-board.    , 

Hamilton  County  and  its  splendid  fishing-grounds  may  be  reached 
in  many  ways  from  New  York,  via  Albany.  Frcm  Caldwoll's  on 
Lake  George,  from  Lake  Champlain  by  the  Saranac,  from  Schenec- 


268 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


taJy  hy  the  Fish-house,  and  from  the  St.  Lawrence  it  is  accessible  to 
the  Canadians  by  the  Black  River  or  the  Racket. 

These  waters  abound  in  the  Brook  Trout,  and  the  great  Lake  Trout, 
whereof  a  word  more  hereafter,  though  he  very  little  merits  a  word ; 
and  good  accommodations  can  now  be  obtained  in  many  places 
through  that  of  late  inhospitable  region ;  but  much  of  the  pleasure  of 
a  trip  thither  is  destroyed  by  the  swarms  of  mosquitoes,  and  yet  worse, 
of  venomous  acupuncturing  black  and  sand-flies,  which  phlebotomize 
almost  beyond  endurance  the  hapless  unacclimated  stranger  who  ven- 
tures into  their  demesnes,  between  May  and  the  latter  days  of  August. 

Beyond  this  I  will  only  add  that  the  haunts  of  the  Brook  Trout 
closely  resemble  those  of  the  Salmon  ;  that  they  lie  lurking  for  their 
passing  prey  under  great  stones  at  the  head  or  tail  of  swift  glancing 
rapids,  in  the  small  deep  pools  between,  beneath  the  roots  of  great 
trees  which  protrude  from  banks  over  swirls  and  whirlpools,  in  holes 
under  weirs  and  sluices,  and  in  no  place  more  frequently  than  at  the 
tail  of  mill-races 

The  best  and  heaviest  fish  do  not  begin  to  feed  until  twilight,  after 
which,  for  about  three  hours,  they  are  exceedingly  voracious,  reposing 
again  after  that  until  daybreak  is  at  hand,  when  they  again  feed  for 
an  hour  or  two,  lying  quite  still,  and  oftentimes  refusing  the  most 
tempting  baits  during  the  whole  of  the  day-time 

I  have  been  told  lately,  and  see  no  reason  for  doubting  the  accuracy 
of  the  information,  that  great  sport  may  be  bad  by  baiting  any  well- 
ascertained  haunt  in  a  stream  wi+h  the  common  Cray-Fish,  his  shell 
being  cracked  to  pieces  for  several  days  in  succession,  previous  to 
fishing  it  with  a  fly. 

From  the  Brook  Trout  I  pass  on  to  his  nearest  relations,  the 
various  kinds  of  Lake  Trout,  Mackinaw  Salmon,  Siskawitz,  and,  as  it 
is  called  erroneously,  Salmon  Trout  of  the  lakes. 

Befc/e  closing  this  article,  1  have  judged  it  well  to  quote  a  few  re- 
marks on  Trout-fishing,  from  that  admirable  work,  Hofland's  Angler's 
Manual,  inasmuch  as  they  are  in  the  highest  degree  appropriate  to  the 
Trout-fishing  of  America  generally,  while  the  observation  on  bush- 
fishing,  dipping  or  dapping,  will  be  found  of  great  advantage  to  the 
angler  for  small  Trout  in  the  beautiful  tumbling  mountain-streams  far 
inland,  in  our  northern  and  north-eastern  States.  , 

r,  f  ■      f      .    -  ■  ^ 


TROUT    FISHING. 


269 


(( 


THE      ARTIFICIAL      FLY. 


"  Fly-fishing  is  certainly  the  most  gentlemanly  and  pleasant  kind 
of  angling,  and  it  has  many  advantages  over  every  other  mode  of 
fishing.  In  the  firet  place,  your  apparatus  is  light  and  portable  ;  for 
a  slight  rod,  twelve  feet  long — or  if  wanted  for  a  narrow  and  wooded 
stream,  one  of  ten  feet  only  would  bo  more  convenient — a  reel  con- 
taining thirty  yards  of  line,  a  book  of  artificial  flies,  and  a  landing- 
net,  and  you  are  fully  equ  •>pcd  for  the  sport.  In  the  socond  place,  it 
is  the  most  cleanly  ■  il  the  least  cruel  mode  of  angling,  as  you  are 
not  obliged  to  soil  your  hands  by  ground  bait,  or  live  baits,  nor  to 
torture  a  living  fish,  or  insect,  on  your  hook.  Another  charm  in  fly- 
fishing is,  that  you  are  never  fixed  to  one  spot,  but  continue  to  rove 
along  the  banks  of  the  stream,  enjoying,  in  your  devious  path,  all  the 
varieties  of  its  scenery  ;  the  exercise  induced  is  constant,  and  not 
too  violent,  and  is  equally  conducive  to  health  and  pleasure.  I  have 
already  said  that  a  one-handed  rod  should  be  ton  or  twelve  feet  long, 
and  a  two-handed  rod  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  feet ;  to  cither  of 
which  must  be  attached  a  reel  containing  thirty  yards  of  twisted  silk 
and  hair  line,  tapering  from  a  moderate  thickness  to  a  few  hairs,  at 
the  end  of  which  you  arc,  by  a  loop,  to  attach  the  bottom  tackle. 
This  should  be  made  of  round,  even  gut,  and  three  yards  long ;  some 
persons  prefer  four  yards ;  but  I  think  too  great  a  length  of  gut 
increases  the  difficulty  in  casting  the  line.  Those  bottom  tackles  may 
be  purchased  at  the  shops  in  two,  three,  or  four-yard  lengths.  These 
lines  should  also  taper  gradually,  the  gut  being  much  stronger  at  the 
end  which  is  to  be  attached  to  the  line  on  the  reel,  than  at  the  end  to 
which  the  stretcher-fly  is  to  be  fixed.  When  you  fish  with  only  two 
flies,  the  second — or  drop-fly — should  be  at  a  distance  of  thirty-six  or 
forty  inches  from  the  bottom,  or  stretcher-fly ;  but,  if  you  use  three 
flies,  the  first  drop  should  be  only  thirty-four  inches  from  the  stretcher, 
and  the  second  drop  thirty  inches  from  the  first.  These  drop-flies 
are  attached  to  the  lino  by  loops,  and  should  not  be  more  than  three 
inches  long  ;  and,  by  having  the  gut  rather  stronger  than  for  the  end- 
fly,  they  will  stand  nearly  at  a  right  angle  from  the  line.  1  recom- 
mend the  beginner  to  cornmenoe  with  one  fly  only  ;  but,  at  most,  he 
muflt  not  use  more  than  two ;  and,  as  for  his  mode  of  casting,  or 


270 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


throwing  his  fly,  now  his  tacklo  is  prepared,  I  fear  little  useful  instruc- 
tion can  be  given,  as  skill  and  dexterity,  in  this  point,  must  depend 
upon  practice.  I  may,  however,  advise  him  not  to  attempt  to  cast  a 
long  line  at  first,  but  to  try  bis  strength,  and  gain  facility  by  degrees. 
He  must  make  up  his  mind  to  hear  many  a  crack,  like  a  coachman's 
whip,  and  find  the  consequent  loss  of  his  flics,  before  he  can  direct 
his  stretcher  to  a  given  point,  and  let  it  fall  on  the  water  lightly  as  a 
gossamer.  When  I  come  to  speak  of  the  diiferent  Trout  streams  in 
the  neighborhood  of  London,  and  elsewhere,  I  shall  recommend  the 
flies  to  be  used  for  the  place  and  season ;  in  the  meantime,  I  shall 
attempt  to  describe  the  haunts  of  the  Trout. 

"  He  is  fond  of  swift,  clear  streams,  running  over  chalky,  lime- 
stone, or  gravelly  bottoms  ;  but  ho  is  more  frequently  in  the  eddies, 
by  the  side  of  the  stream,  than  in  the  midst  of  it.  A  mill-tail  is  a 
favorite  haunt  of  the  Trout,  for  ho  finds  protection  under  the  apron, 
which  is  generally  hollow,  and  has  the  advantage  of  being  in  the  eddy, 
by  the  side  of  the  mill-race,  awaiting  his  food.  He  delights  also  in 
cascades,  tumbling  bays,  and  wiers.  The  larger  Trout  generally  have 
their  hold  under  roots  of  over-hanging  trees,  and  beneath  hollow 
bankb,  in  the  deepest  parts  of  the  river.  The  junction  of  little 
rapids,  formed  by  water  passing  round  an  obstruction,  in  the  midst  of 
the  general  current,  is  a  likely  point  at  which  to  raise  a  Trout ;  also 
at  the  roots  of  trees,  or  in  other  places  where  the  froth  of  the  stream 
collects.  All  such  places  are  favorable  for  sport,  as  insects  follow  the 
same  course  as  tho  bubbles,  and  arc  there  sought  by  the  fish.  After 
sunset,  in  summer,  the  large  fish  leave  their  haunts,  and  may  be  found 
on  the  scowers,  and  at  the  tails  of  streams  ;  and  during  this  time,  so 
long  as  the  angler  can  sec  liis  fly  on  the  water,  he  may  expect  sport. 
Unfortunately,  when  tho  deepening  shades  of  twilight  drive  the  sports- 
man  home,  he  is  succeeded,  on  dark  nights,  by  the  poacher,  with  his 
night-lines ;  and,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  that  the  north-country  angler 
gives  too  faithful  a  picture  of  this  night-fishing,  which  he  himself 
practised.  ' 

"  And  now,  having  told  the  young  angler  where  to  search  for  fish, 
I  must  strongly  impress  upon  him  the  necessity  of  keeping  out  of 
sight  of  the  fish,  for,  if  once  seen,  not  any  kind  of  bait  he  can  off'er 
will  tempt  a  Trout  to  take  it ;  therefore,  approach  the  stream  with 


/ 


TROUT    FISHING. 


271 


caution,  keeping  as  far  from  it  as  possible  :  first,  fish  the  side  nearest 
to  you,  and  then  cast  your  line  so  as  to  drop  just  under  the  bank  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  stream,  drawing  it,  by  gentle  snatches, 
towards  you,  always  continuing  careful  to  show  yourself  as  little  as 
possible. 

"  Some  persons  recommend  fishing  up  stream,  and  throwing  the  fly 
before  them ;  others  walk  down  the  river,  and  cast  the  fly  before  them. 
For  my  own  part — after  much  experience — whenever  I  can  do  so 
with  convenience,  I  cast  my  fly  a  little  above  me,  and  across  the 
stream,  drawing  it  gently  towards  me.  If  the  wind  should  be  against 
you,  yon  will  be  constrained  to  stand  close  to  the  water's  edge,  and 
make  your  cast  close  to  the  bank  on  which  you  stand,  either  up  or 
down  the  stream,  as  the  wind  may  serve.  Avoid,  if  possible,  fishing 
with  the  sun  beliind  you,  as  the  moving  shadow  of  yourself  and  rod 
will  alarm  the  fish.  The  finer  the  tackle — particularly  the  bottom 
tackle — and  the  lighter  the  fly  falls  on  the  water,  the  greater  will  be 
your  sport ;  indeed,  some  anglers  use  only  a  single  hair  for  their 
bottom  tackle  ;  but  when  the  water  you  fish  is  weedy,  or  much  wooded, 
a  single  hair  is  very  tlifiicult  to  manage  ;  but  in  ponds,  or  streams,  free 
from  impediments,  it  may  be  used  by  a  skilful  hand  with  great  advan- 
tage. The  winds  most  favorable  to  the  angler  are  south,  southeast, 
southwest,  and  northwest ;  but  in  March  and  April  this  latter  wind 
is  generally  too  cold.  A  fresh  br(5ezc  is  favorable,  especially  for  lake- 
fishing,  mill-dams,  or  the  still  deeps  of  rivers  ;  as  the  ripple  on  the 
water,  caused  by  the  breeze,  has  the  same  effect  as  a  rapid  stream,  in 
preventing  the  sharp-sighted  Trout  from  discovering  the  deception  of 
the  artificial  fly. 

"  In  lake-fishing  you  can  hardly  have  too  much  wind,  if  you  can 
manage  your  boat  comfortably,  and  keep  your  fly  on  the  water. 
There  are  very  few  lakes,  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  where  good 
sport  can  be  had  from  the  shore  ;  to  ensure  success,  a  boat  is  indis- 
pensable ;  and  if  you  can  procure  a  boatman  well  acquainted  with  the 
water,  and  the  management  of  his  boat,  the  battle  is  half  won.  After 
sunset  the  fish  seek  the  shallow  water,  and  a  lake  may  then  be  fished 
from  the  shore.  I  have  found,  from  long  experience  in  lake-fishing, 
that  it  is  better  to  cast  your  line  towards  the  shore,  rather  than  from  • 
me  shore,  or  up  or  down  the  lake.     The  boat  should  be  maintained, 


ii72 


AMERICAN  FISHEft. 


as  far  as  possible,  at  a  proper  dieitance  from  the  shore — that  is,  bo  that 
your  flies  may  fall  where  the  water  begins  to  deepen  from  the  shore 
The  boat  should  be  allowed  to  drift  with  the  wind,  and  the  oars  used 
as  seldom  as  possible,  and  merely  to  keep  it  in  a  proper  position  and 
distance  from  the  shore.  The  flies  used  in  lake-fishing  are  larger 
than  those  for  rivers  ;  and  I  have  frequently  observed  that  the  winged 
flies  answer  better  than  palmers.  Perhaps  the  cause  of  this  may  be, 
that  many  rivers  and  small  Trout  streams  are  bordered  with  trees, 
which  overhang  tnem,  and  from  which  drop  the  insects  that  the 
palmers  imitate ;  whereas  the  shores  of  the  lake  are  generally  rocky, 
or  stony,  and  mostly  denuded  of  ti  oes,  and  consequently  do  not  pro- 
duce this  kind  of  food  for  their  finny  inhabitants." 


t( 


BUSH-FISHING,    DIBBINO,    OR    DAPING. 


"  One  great  recommendation  to  bush-fishing  is,  that  it  can  be  prac- 
tised with  success  in  the  months  of  June,  July,  and  August,  '/hen  the 
river  is  low,  and  the  sunshine  bright,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  day , 
at  a  time  and  season  when  no  other  circumstance  would  stir  a  fish,  the 
largest  Trout  are  taken  by  this  method.  The  angler  must  be  provided 
with  a  fourteen-feet  rod,  with  a  stiff  top,  and  strong  running  tackle ; 
he  will  seldom  have  to  use  more  than  a  yard  of  line,  the  bottom  of 
which  should  be  of  strong  silkworm  gut.  I  recommend  strong  tockle, 
because,  in  confined  situations,  overhung  with  wood,  you  will  not  have 
room  to  play  your  fish,  but  must  hold  him  tight,  and  depend  on  the 
strength  of  the  tackle. 

"The  size  of  your  hook  must  depend  on  the  size  of  your  fly,  from 
No.  7  to  9  for  small  flies  and  grubs,  and,  for  beetles.  No.  4  or  5, 
For  bush-fishing,  you  should  be  provided  with  well-scoured  brandlings 
and  red  worm,  cad-baits,  clock-baits,  earth-grubs,  beetles,  grasshop- 
pers, and  a  horn  of  flics,  or,  at  least,  as  many  of  the  above  as  you 
can  procure.  A  small  green  grub,  or  caterpillar,  which  may  be  got 
in  June  and  July,  by  shaking,  over  a  sheet  or  tablecloth,  the  boughs 
of  an  oak-tree,  is  a  most  killing  bait  for  this  kind  of  fishing. 

"  Great  caution  is  necessary  in  using  your  rod  and  line  ;  for,  if 
there  are  few  bushes  or  brambles  to  conceal  you,  the  water  must  bo 
approached  warily,  as  the  large  Trout  often  lie  near  the  surface,  ami. 


TROUT    FISH  I  NO 


273 


if  you  are  once  seen,  they  will  fly  from  you  If  the  water  should  be 
Jaop,  dark,  and  overhung  with  thick  foliage,  so  that  you  can  scarcely 
find  an  open  space  for  your  bait,  your  line  must  be  shortened  to  half 
a  yard,  and  sometimes  less. 

"  If  your  flies  are  small,  use  two  of  them  at  once,  as  they  frequently 
fall  into  the  water  in  couples  ;  when  daping  with  the  fly,  if  you  sec 
your  fish,  drop  the  fly  gently  on  to  the  water,  about  a  foot  before  him, 
and  if  you  are  not  seen,  he  will  eagerly  take  it.  When  your  fish  is 
struck,  do  not  allow  him  to  get  down  his  head,  foi  fear  of  roots  and 
weeds,  but  keep  him  to  the  top  of  the  water,  where  his  fins  and 
strength  will  be  of  little  use  to  him  ;  and  in  this  situation,  with  good 
tackle,  you  may  soon  exhaust  him,  and  make  him  your  own  by  a 
landing-nst,  the  handle  of  which  should  be  two  yards  lonj, ;  or  he 
may  be  landed  by  a  hook  or  gaff,  with  a  long  handle  ;  and  this,  in 
some  situations,  amidst  close,  thorny  brambles,  will  be  found  more 
useful  than  a  landing-net,  which  is  liable  to  bo  caught  in  the  bushes. 

"  When  you  use  the  worm,  the  caddis,  or  any  other  grub,  you  will 
require  a  single  shot,  No.  6,  to  sink  your  bait,  for  it  cannjt  sink  too 
slowly,  or  cause  too  little  disturbance  in  the  water." 

_  No.  1.  Mayflies,  perfect,  aud  embryo. 

No.  2.  Stonefly,  perfect,  aiid  ombiyo. 


2T4 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


LAKE  TROUT  FISHING. 


These  great,  bad,  coarse  and  unsporting  fish,  of  all  the  three  varie- 
ties, are  very  nearly  similar  in  their  habits,  lying  for  the  most  part  in 
the  deepest  parts  of  the  great  lakes,  seeking  their  food  in  the  depths, 
and  very  rarely  rising  to  the  surface,  either  for  food  or  play.  Of 
these  the  great  Mackinaw  Salmon  is  perhaps  the  liveliest,  and  the 
common  Lake  Trout,  Salmo  Conjinis,  of  DeKay,  the  heaviest  and 
most  worthless. 

They  will  scarce  ever  rise  to  a  fly,  and  can  rarely  be  taken  even 
with  a  spinning  minnow ;  with  a  live  bait,  however,  or  a  peacock-fly, 
submerged  to  a  considerable  depth,  with  a  bullet  at  the  end  of  two 
hundred  yards  of  line,  played  from  a  stiff  rod  at  the  stern  of  a  light 
skiff  or  canoe  moved  rapidly  tlirough  the  water  by  sails  or  oars,  they 
can  be  caught  with  considerable  certainty.  When  hookod,  however, 
they  are  but  a  heavy,  torpid  fish,  bearing  down  with  a  sullen  dead 
weight,  and  offering  little  more  than  a  passive  resistance.  My  friend 
William  T.  Porter,  who  constantly  fishes  in  the  waters  of  Hamilton 
county,  informs  me  that  he  has  been  exceedingly  and  almost  invariably 
successful  with  what  seems  a  very  strange  and  unsporting  combination, 
a  small  fish  namely,  and  a  large  fly  on  the  same  line,  at  about  a  yard's 
distance  asunder. 

The  commonest  way,  by  far,  of  angling  for  the  common  Lake  Trout 
is  with  a  stout  drop-line  and  a  Cod-hook  baited  with  a  piece  of  salt 
pork,  or  the  belly  of  a  Yellow  Pearch  or  Brook  Trout  let  down  into 
ten  or  fifteen  fathom  water.  The  fish  bites,  gorges  his  bait,  for  which 
you  may  allow  him  a  few  seconds'  time,  after  which  he  is  hauled  in  by 
main  force.  He  is  very  indifferent  eating,  but  perhaps  the  best  way 
of  preparing  him  when  quite  fresh  out  of  water,  is  to  crimp  him  to  the 
bone  after  stunnning  him  with  a  heavy  blow  on  the  head,  wrap  him  up 
in  a  cover  of  thick  greased  paper,  and  roast  him  without  removing  the 

V  ,.       f 


/■ 


LAKE    TROUT    FISHING. 


J76 


entrails,  which  will  como  away  at  a  touch  when  ho  is  cooked,  under 
tho  ashes  of  a  wood  fire. 

The  greatest  Mackmuw  Salmou,  or  Namaycush,  and  tho  Masama- 
cush,  or  Arctic  Charr,  tho  latter  a  delicious  and  very  voracious  fish,  arc 
both  taken  in  the  same  manner,  in  very  doop  water,  in  the  summer, 
and  through  holes  cut  in  the  ice  in  the  dead  of  winter.  Tho  favorite 
bait  for  both  these  fishes,  is  the  belly  of  the  yellow  or  gray  sucking 
Carp,  or  a  piece  of  the  raw  heart  or  liver  of  a  deer. 

The  Mackinaw  fish  is,  however,  a  far  bolder  fish  than  any  of  his 
race,  and  occasionally  follows  any  shining  bait  or  squid  up  to  the  very 
surface  of  the  water,  if  it  is  sunk  by  means  of  a  weight,  and  then 
trollod  sharply  upward  and  onward  to  the  surface.  A  piece  of  bright 
tin,  with  a  rag  of  scarlet  cloth  attached  to  it,  is,  I  am  informed,  found 
to  bo  very  successful  and  killing  in  the  hands  of  tho  Indians.  If  this 
bo  tho  case,  of  which  I  am  well  assured,  there  can  be  little  or  no  doubt 
that  the  deadly  spoon,  as  it  is  called,  an  implement  shaped  precisely 
like  the  bowl  of  a  table  spoon,  of  bright  metal,  silver-washvod  within, 
and  brazed  without,  attached  by  a  swivel  at  the  lower  extremity  to  a 
stout  triple  hook,  and  at  the  upper  to  a  piece  of  strong  gimp — which  is 
so  murderously  destructive  to  the  Black  Bass  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
the  Mascalonge — would  be  found  no  less  effective  with  the  great  Lake 
Trout ;  nor  if  any  one  should  think  it  worth  the  while,  would  any  harm 
be  thought  of  his  applying  any  invention,  however  slaughtering  and 
poacher-like,  to  so  base  and  caitiff  a  fish  as  the  Lake  Salmon. 

Of  Back's  Grayling  it  is  almost  unnecessary  here  to  speak,  so  far 
north  are  his  customary  haunts,  and  so  very  diiBcult  and  expensive  is 
it  to  reach  the  districts  in  which  only  he  exists.  This  is  the  more  to 
be  regretted  for  that  he  is  one  of  the  finest,  if  not  the  very  finest,  of  all 
the  sporting  fishes  of  America.  He  is  the  boldest  of  biters  at  a  fly, 
taking  all  those  flics  which  are  most  preferred  by  the  Brook  Trout, 
leaping  many  times  out  of  the  water  in  his  efforts  to  extricate  himself 
from  tho  hook,  nor  ever  succumbing  to  his  captor's  will  without  a  des- 
perate resistance  and  a  severe  conflict.  His  flesh  is  no  less  delicious, 
and  his  excellence  at  the  board  in  no  wise  inferior  to  his  spirit,  or  the 
beauty  of  his  coloring.  ^ 

Of  the  Attihawmeg  or  White-Fish  of  the  great  lakes,  of  the  Otsego 
Bass,  or  as  I  should  desire  to  have  it  hereafter  called,  the  Otsego  La- 


276 


AMERICAN  FIAIIE8. 


I'' 


varct,  and  of  tho  littlo  Smelt,  which  aro  all  members  of  this  samu 
noble  family,  it  needs  not  to  make  farther  mention.  They  all  hove 
boon  occasionally  taken  with  the  fly,  and  will  all  undoubtedly  bo  often- 
times again  so  captured,  but  the  certainty  of  their  rising  is  by  no 
means  sufficient  to  warrant  the  fisherman  in  wasting  much  time  in 
their  pursuit.         •  , 

I  may  hero,  before  finishing  this  head  of  my  subject,  observe  that  in 
fact  there  is  scarcely  any  fish  which  will  not,  apparently  from  some 
whim  or  other,  take  the  fiy  on  the  surface.  I  have  myself  so  caught 
tho  Striped  Bass,  the  Shad,  the  Herring  and  tho  Northern  Pickerel 
with  tho  Salmon-fly.  AH  the  family  of  the  small  Cyprinida,  as  the 
Roach,  Dace,  Bream  and  Chub,  will  at  times  bite  freely.  In  the  Black 
River  a  species  of  this  family  rises  very  freely,  and  gives  good  sport. 
It  is  there  called  the  Chub,  and  is,  I  believe,  identical  with  another  of 
tho  same  division,  known  as  the  Wind-Fish  in  some  of  the  streams  of 
Duchess  County,  in  the  State  of  New  York ;  and  a  thoroughly  good 
fisherman  of  the  city  informed  me  yesterday  that  he  had  even  caught 
Suckers  with  a  Trout-fly,  a  fact,  which  but  for  the  very  great  respec- 
tability of  tho  source  whence  I  derived  the  information,  I  should  hardly 
have  been  inclined  to  credit. 

None  of  these  unimportant  little  fish,  however,  give  sport  enough, 
or  are  sufficiently  good  on  the  table,  to  make  them  worthy  the  pursuit 
of  others  than  boys,  snobs,  and  the  ladies,  who  must  pardon  me  for 
tho  company  into  which  I  have  introduced  them,  certainly  not  accord- 
ing to  their  merits,  on  my  estimation  of  them. 


Note  to  Revised  Edition. — See  Supplement,  article  Lake  Trout,  for  some  altered 
views  and  farther  instructions  in  regard  to  the  tactile  and  mode  of  taking  this  fish. 
I  am  more  than  ever  satisfied  that  there  are  two  distinct  Lake  Trouts  in  the  New 
England  and  New  York  waters,  apart  from  the  Namaycush  or  Mackinaw  Trout, 
and  the  Siskawilz. 


// 


I      ! 


SALMON    TROUT    riSHINU 


Q77 


SALMON   TROUT  FISHING. 


There  is  but  oa3  regioa  on  this  03ntia3nt  ia  wlnok  thb  admirable 
spurt  can  ba  enjoyed  at  all ;  for,  sin^ubr  to  say,  thu  fijli  h  found  only 
in  those  rivers  of  Nov?  Brunswick  which  fljw  oastwardly  into  tha  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  Bays  of  Gaspt}  and  Chalours. 

As  if  to  makj  amonis,  h3.V3VJr,  for  thi  narrow  limits  of  thoir  geo- 
graphioilran^a,  th3y  absolutjly  swarm,  dni'in'  th)ir  sjason,  in  all  the 
rivers  which  th3y  fretjujnt, traversing  th3  sja  bays  in  onorraam  schulls, 
and  running  up  all  the  rivers  to  thi  h^al  of  tidj  watar,  beyond  which 
they  do  not  ascend  on  those  coasts.  Why  this  should  be  the  case  it  is  not 
e'^sy  to  conjecture,  since  it  would  appaar  te  indicato  a  variation  in  the 
species  from  one  of  the  normal  habits  of  the  race — that,  I  mjan,  which 
dictates  to  the  parent  fish  that  they  must  run  up  into  the  aerated  waters 
of  pure  fresh  rivers,  in  ordar  to  djposit  their  ova. 

It  may  be,  though  I  am  net  prepared  to  state  that  it  is,  the  fact,  that 
the  ascent  of  all  these  rivers  b:5ycid  a  certain  peint  is  rond3red  im- 
possible to  the  fish,  by  long  rapids,  or  impassable  cataracts,  and  that, 
perceiving  the  impossibility  of  arriving  at  the  place  of  th3ir  proper 
and  natural  d3stination,  th3  fish  them?elv33  cease  to  attempt  it,  and 
merely  run  up  from  the  brackish  into  the  fresh  water,  in  ord3r  to  enjoy 
those  altsrnations  of  temperature  and  feed,  in  which  all  this  family 
would  appear  especially  to  rejoice. 

In  the  Scottish  and  English  watars,  th3  Salmon  Trout,  like  the  true 
Salmon,  ascand  quite  to  the  head  wat3rs  .of  the  streams  which  they 
frequent,  and  deposit  their  ova  precisely  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
other  of  their  congeners.  Here,  it  is  evident,  from  Mr.  Perley's  re- 
ports to  the  British  Parliament  on  the  Fisheries  of  the  Province,  that 
they  do  nothing  of  the  kind. 

In  the  St.  Lawrence,  I  have  never  heard  of  their  being  takon  above 
Montreal,  and  rarely  above  Quebec,  although  there  is  no  obstruction  of 


278 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


any  sort  to  hinder  tliuir  running  quito  up  to  tho  mouth  of  Ningara,  as 
is  thi!  01180  with  tho  true  Suinion. 

One  thin;;,  however,  it  may  bo  observed  in  this  connexion,  is  very 
evident — that  wo  know,  comparatively  speaking,  almost  nothing  of  tho 
nature  of  fishes*  instinctA. 

That  they  possess  exceedingly  tenacious  momorics,  I  cannot  in  the  i 
least  doubt ;  and  I  have  more  almost  than  strong  suspicion  that  these 
memories  became  hereditary,  and  arc  so  transmitted  from  generation 
to  generation. 

In  no  other  way  can  wo  account  for  that  extraordinary  instinct 
which  leads  back  tho  young  bird  to  tho  nest  in  which  it  was  hatched, 
tho  grilse  to  tho  river  in  which  it  hud  its  birth — since  tho  young  birds 
are  daserted  by  their  parents  at  a  period  long  antecedent  to  their 
return  from  their  migration,  and  the  fish  never  have  the  protection  of 
their  progenitors. 

Nor  in  any  other  way  can  wo  explain  tho  fact  that  the  true  Salmon  \ 
never  enter  tho  Niagara  River,  although  they  run  quito  up  to  its 
mouth  ;  even  if  wo  admit  that  its  waters  are  entirely  unfitted  for  the 
purposes  of  the  fish,  and  that  it  contains  no  shoals  suited  for  spawning- 
grounds  ;  for  otherwise,  we  should  expect  that  every  individual  fish 
would  visit  it  at  least  once,  in  order  to  get  a  taste  of  its  quality,  and 
then  finding  it  unsuitable,  desert  it ;  whereas  it  is  not  on  record  that 
any  fish  has  ever  been  taken  of  this  species  within  its  embouchure. 

It  may  be  that  this  wonderful  power  is  an  especial  gift  of  Provi- 
dence, preventing  tho  fish  from  wasting  too  much  time  in  seeking  out 
a  haunt,  and  so  losing  the  season  for  the  propagation  of  its  species,  by 
conducting  it  truly,  as  tho  needle  to  the  magnetic  pole,  to  the  stream 
in  which  it  was  bred. 

Bo  this,  however,  as  it  may,  certain  it  is  that  in  all  the  rivers  which 
flow  eastwardly  from  tho  Provinces  into  the  Northern  Atlantic,  with 
every  flood-tide  a  horde  of  theso  beautiful  fishes  run  up  until  they 
strike  tho  junction  of  the  salt  and  fresh  water,  usually  at  the  foot  of  a 
fall  or  rapid,  and  there  remain  disporting  themselves  in  the  bright 
eddies,  and  throwing  themselves  quite  out  of  their  native  clement, 
in  pursuit  of  their  scaly  prey. 

In  those  places  they  will  take  very  greedily  any  of  the  Scottish  or 
Irish  gaudy  lake-flies,  leaping  out  of  the  water  to  take  and  ssize  them, 


f 


f*At.M()N    THOUT    riflMINO. 


379 


and  rising  ho  voraoloiLMly  ami  nipMIy,  that  it  Is  found  iinpos-Mihl';  to  Rh\i 
with  uhovo  ono,  or  at  thi!  inoHt,  two  tiii>H;  uh  it  is  not  nt  all  an  "  iumiiiI 
thinj;,  If  fishing  with  throe,  to  hook  at  thu  Hani«  nioiuent  thrnu  «  vnrul 
fishos. 

InthoOI)scat'he,  sovoral  yoarM  since,  Mr.  Perley,  who  visited  th  )«(• 
waters  In  his  ofticial  capacity,  ucconipanied  by  Capt.  Hgorton,  of  M. 
M.  irM  Mght  Infiintiy,  killed  thrco  hundred  of  these  fine  fish  at  the 
junction  of  the  fresh  and  salt  water,  at  the  foot  of  a  long  glancing 
rapid,  in  a  single  tide  ;  and  the  fornjer  gentleman  writes  me  word,  that 
one  morning  last  season  he  killed,  in  uu  hour  or  two,  eight  fish,  which 
weighed  forty  pounds. 

This  must  be  regarded,  however,  as  an  unusual  run  of  luck  ;  for  the 
average  size  of  the  Salmon  'i'rout  does  not  Appear  to  exceed  four 
pounds,  although  they  are  taken  up  to  seven  and  eight. 

In  the  fresh  water,  within  the  rivers,  they  are  taken  exactly  as  the 
Salmon,  or  Brook  Trout,  with  a  double  or  single-handed  rod  indiffe- 
rently, and  with  any  of  the  baits  or  flies  which  are  killing  to  the  others 
of  the  family ;  but  best  of  all,  with  a  scarlet  ibis  fly,  with  a  gold  tinsel 
body,  which  it  prefers  even  In  bright  water,  to  the  best  peacock  herl 
and  gay  feather  lak(!-flies.  Although  a  fine  game  fish,  a  strong  fighter, 
and  hard  dier,  the  Salmon  Trout  often  comes  In  for  a  share  of  the 
Salmon  fisher's  maledictions,  jumping  incessantly  at  the  deceits  'n- 
t'^ndod  to  fascinate  a  larger  and  more  potent  victor,  and  In  fact,  for 
insisting  on  being  taken  in  lieu  of  its  great  congener. 

In  the  sea  bays,  <|uito  out  of  sight  of  land,  while  roving  along  the 
coasts,  in  search  probably  of  its  favorite  estuary,  the  Salmon  Trout  Is 
caught  nearly  as  wo  catch  ISIackorel  or  Blue  Fish,  by  trolling  with  the 
Ibis  fly,  above  described,  at  the  end  of  thirty  or  forty  yards  of  line, 
from  the  stern  of  a  sailing-boat,  under  all  canvass,  in  a  stiff  Mackerel 
breeze. 

For  this  sport  It  Is  necessary  to  use  a  reel,  with  not  less  than  a  hun- 
dred yards  of  line — as  the  largest  fisli  are  taken  by  this  method,  and 
make  a  very  violent  resistance  before  they  can  be  brought  home. 

The  fly  is  kept  skipping  from  wave  to  wave,  as  the  boat  lavecrs,  or 
beats  to  windward,  and  the  fish  throwing  itself  out  of  the  sea  to  secure 
it  with  its  beautiful  bright  sides  flashing  like  virgin  silver  in  the  sun- 
light, and  when  struck,  constantly  dashing  away  with  the  whole  of  the 


280 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


line  from  the  whizzing  reel,  and  giving  a  long  run  down  wind,  there 
is  perhaps  no  sport  in  existence  more  full  of  pleasant  excitement  and 
adventure. 

Nor  when  taken  is  the  prisoner  unworthy  of  the  pains  it  has  cost  to 
kill  him  ;  for  although  smaller,  he  is  in  all  other  respects  nearly  of 
equal  excellence  with  the  true  Salmon,  and  occupies  a  place  second  to 
him  alone,  with  the  judicious  epicure. 

Right  well  would  it  repay  some  of  our  gallant  yachters,  to  turn  the 
heads  of  their  tight  crafts  easterly,  and  bear  away,  as  the  old  song  has 
it,  with  a  wet  sheet  and  a  flowing  sail,  for  the  rock-bound  shores  of 
Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  for  once  there,  right  hospitable 
would  they  find  their  welcome,  and  their  sport  right  royal. 


■  I 


''-  .  if 


h 


PICKEREL    FISHING. 


281 


PICKEREL   FISHING. 


From  the  gigantic  Mascalonge  and  its  nearly  equal  congener,  the 
great  Northern  Pickerel,  to  the  small  barred  variety,  which  is  found 
only  in  the  waters  of  Long  Island,  the  whole  of  this  fierce  and  vora- 
cious family  affords  great  sport  to  the  fresh-water  angler  ;  and  where 
the  Trout  and  Salmon  do  not  obtain,  they  are  considered  as  the  kings 
of  the  waters.  There  are  many  modes  of  fishing  for  them,  and  the  baits 
which  they  will  take  are  almost  innumerable,  comprehending  in  their 
range  almost  the  whole  animal  creation,  fish,  flesh,  fowl  and  reptile. 

When  of  great  size  they  are  excessively  destructive — not  to  other 
fish  only,  of  which  they  are  the  tyrants,  but  to  frogs,  water-rats,  and 
even  the  young  of  wild-fowl. 

They  are  taken  either  with  trimmers,  that  is  to  say,  small  floating 
buoys  with  a  rude  reel  attached,  and  a  dependent  live  bait,  with  long 
set-lines  ;  or  again,  by  roving  with  the  live,  or  trolling  with  the  dead 
bait.  In  the  former  mode,  it  is  the  better  way  to  use  two  moderate- 
sized  hooks,  one  passed  through  the  lip,  and  the  other  through  the  dor- 
sal fin  of  the  bait^  which  should  be  sunk  about  two  feet  below  the  sur- 
face, with  a  large  float  on  the  line,  and  suffered  to  swim  about  at  his 
pleasure. 

By  this  method,  however,  large  Pearch  are  often  taken  instead  of 
the  proper  fish,  and  trolling  with  the  gorge-hook,  or  fishing  with  the 
snap-hook  is  by  far  better  sport — especially  the  former — more  legiti- 
mate, more  exciting,  and  last,  not  least,  more  killing. 

Of  these  methods,  Mr.  Hofiand,  in  his  British  Angler's  Manual, 
thus  discourses — and  although  he  is  speaking  of  the  English  Pike, 
Esox  Lucius^  not  of  the  Mascalonge  or  Pickerel,  as  the  fishes  are  of 
the  same  family,  and  the  modes  to  be  pursued  in  capturing  them  in  all 
respects  identical,  I  have  not  hesitated  to  extract  his  able  and  well- 
written  description  ;  I  must  premise,  however,  that  where  he  speaks 
19 


282 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


of  Dace,  Bleak  or  Gudgeon  for  bait,  we  must  substitute  the  Roach,  the 
Minnow,  the  small  Bream,  the  New  York  Shiner,  or,  which  is  deci- 
dedly th3  best  and  most  killing  of  all,  the  young  fry,  or  Parr,  of  the 
Brook  Trout. 

Like  Mr.  Hofland,  I  infinitely  prefer  trolling  with  the  gorge-hook, 
a  representation  of  which  is  annexed  below,  to  fishing  either  with  the 
common  snap,  or  with  what  is  here  called  the  sockdoUager-hook ; 
which  last  I  regard  as  a  great  and  dangerous  humbug. 

The  rod  for  Pike-trolling  is  well  described  below  by  Mr.  Hofiand, 
but  one  of  Conroy's  best  general  rods  with  spare  tops — ^which  is,  iu 
fact,  the  best  for  everything  except  fly-fishing,  such  as  is  used  for  Bass 
or  Weak- Fish  though  with  rather  a  stronger  or  stiflFer  top — will  be 
found  all-sufficient.  In  my  opinion,  a  large  click-reel,  such  as  we  use 
for  Salmon,  and  a  stout  silken  line  of  a  hundred  yards  or  better,  will 
be  found  preferable  to  the  contrivances  of  which  Mr,  Hofland  dis- 
courses. 

In  casting  the  bait,  the  butt  of  the  rod  should  be  set  against  the 
right  hip,  with  the  point  inclined  to  the  left ;  the  bait  should  hang  at 
the  end  of  some  ten  or  fifteen  yards  of  line,  and  as  many  more  should 
be  drawn  off  the  reel  and  held  loosely  in  the  left  hand,  the  right  hand 
grasping  the  butt  about  a  yard  above  its  extremity. 

The  body  should  then  be  turned  slowly  to  the  left,  and  brought 
round  again,  with  a  quick  jerk,  to  its  original  position  ;  the  rod,  as 
described  before,  will  follow  the  same  motion,  and  deliver  its  bait  with 
greai  velocity  and  accuracy,  the  left  hand  playing  out  the  line  and 
checking  its  motion  gently,  so  as  to  drop  the  bait  upon  the  surface  al- 
most without  creating  a  ripple,  certainly  without  a  splash, 

A  little  practice  will  soon  enable  the  merest  tyro  to  deliver  a  dead 
bait  on  a  leaded  gorge  into  the  circumference  of  his  hat  at  twenty-five 
or  thirty  yards  ;  and  let  him  remember,  that  the  longer  his  easts,  the 
better  and  more  like  to  kill. 

The  bait,  after  being  cast,  should  be  drawn  gently  and  gradually 
home,  the  left  hand  constantly  giving  out  and  retracting  the  line ; 
which,  with  the  aid  of  one  or  two  swivels  above  the  gimp  arming  of 
the  gorge-hook,  will  cause  the  fish  to  spin  and  glance  beautifully  in 
the  water,  and  will  render  it  a  most  attractive  bait.  ' 

Hofland's  instructions  for  striking  and  playing  this  fine  fish  cannot 


PICKEREL   FISHING. 


283 


be  surpassed  ;  and  paying  due  attention  to  the  above,  and  giving  heed 
to  his  instructions,  the  young  angler  will  hardly  fail  of  sport  in  any  of 
the  inland  lakes  or  rivers  of  this  country  from  Maine  to  Lake  Supe- 
rior and  La  Belle  Riviere,  as  the  French  designate  the  Ohio,  and  from 
the  Atlantic  coasts  to  the  Arctic  Circle. 

"  I  must  here  inform  the  novice  in  trolling,  that  little  sport  can  be 
expected  without  a  tolerably  clear  water. 

"  Nobbs,  the  father  of  the  art  of  trolling,  speaks  of  April  and 
May  as  the  best  months ;  but,  with  due  deference  to  so  great  an 
authority,  I  should  say  September,  October,  and  November,  are  the 
best  months,  as  the  fish  are  then  in  prime  season,  and  are  worth 
taking,  whereas  in  April  and  May  they  have  not  recovered  from 
spawning,  and  although  they  may  feed  freely,  they  will  be  lank  and 
thin,  and  in  bad  condition. 

"  Early  in  March  the  Pike  are  often  taken  full  of  spawn,  but  at 
this  season  they  will  seldom  gorge  the  bait,  and  are  generally  taken 
>y  the  snap.  In  the  autumn,  rivers  and  ponds  begin  to  lose  their 
weeds,  which,  in  spring  and  summer,  are  so  troublesome  to  the  troller, 
and  the  fish  then  take  to  the  deep  holes,  and  their  haunts  are  more 
easily  found.  The  troller  cannot  be  too  early  or  too  late  at  his  sport, 
for  during  the  middle  of  the  day  the  fish  seldom  feed,  unless  it  be 
cloudy  and  the  breezs  fresh. 

"  The  best  baits  for  Jack  and  Pike  are  Roach,  Dace,  Bleak,  Gud- 
geon, Minnow,  small  Chub,  and  Trout,  or  the  Skegger  or  Brandling  ; 
when  none  of  these  can  bo  procured,  a  small  Perch,  by  cutting  away 
the  back  fin,  may  be  used.  Indeed,  in  the  lakes  of  Derwentwater  and 
Bassenthwaite,  and  various  places  where  other  fish  are  scarce,  and  the 
small  Bass  or  Perch  plentiful,  it  is  the  bait  in  general  use.  It  is  of 
the  utmost  consequence  that  the  baits  should  be  perfectly  fresh  and 
sweet ;  although  a  Pike  might  run  at  a  stale  bait,  he  will  rarely  pouch 
it,  even  at  the  snap  :  your  baits  cannot  be  too  bright  or  fresh. 

"  Many  writers  have  recommended  birds,  mice,  frogs,  &c.,  as  baits, 
but  where  small  fish  can  be  procured,  no  other  will  be  wanted :  of  all 
the  baits  mentioned,  I  prefer  a  moderate-sized  Gudgeon,  more  espe- 
cially for  the  gorge-hook,  as  the  sweetness  of  the  fish  makes  the  Pike 
more  eager  to  pouch  it. 


284 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


"  On  a  dark  da;,  and  when  tho  water  is  not  very  clear,  I  should 
prefer  a  clean,  bright,  small  Roach,  Dace  or  Bleak,  particularly  when 
fishing  at  the  snap.  When  your  fish  are  not  kept  alive  in  a  bait-can, 
they  should  be  carried  in  a  tin  box,  and  laid  in  a  little  fine  bran,  oi 
pollard,  and  carefully  washed  before  you  bait  with  them. 


(( 


TROLLINO    TACKLE. 


"  The  rod  should  be  of  strong  bamboo  cane,  and  from  ten  to  twelve 
feet  long,  with  a.  tolerably  stiflF  top  of  whalebone  or  hickory ;  the 
rings  should  be  five  in  number  and  not  less  than  three-eighths  of  an 
inch  diameter  in  the  opening,  that  the  line  may  run  freely. 

''  A  strong  winch  will  be  required,  which  must  hold  at  least  forty 
yards  of  line,  that  is  not  subject  to  kink.  Mr.  Jesse  recommends  a 
trolling-Iine  sold  by  Mr.  Barth,  of  Cockspur-street,  and  I  have  seen 
a  very  good  sort  of  line  for  this  purpose,  manufactured  by  Mr.  Bazin, 
Duncan-place,  Hackney.  Some  troUers  prefer  a  rod  twenty  feet  long, 
in  which  case  your  cast  on  the  water  is  made  in  the  same  manner  as 
in  spinning  the  minnow  for  Trout,  but  with  a  longer  line  ;  and  the 
lighter  your  bait  falls  upon  the  water  the  greater  your  success.  Mr. 
Jesse  strongly  recommends  tho  use  of  a  wooden  reel,  one  of  about 
four  inches  and  a  half  across,  having  the  rim  grooved  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  line. 

"  '  These  reels  turn  round  with  great  rapidity  when  the  cast  is 
made,  letting  out  a  sufficient  length  of  line,  and  are  wound  up  again 
by  turning  them  with  the  fore-finger.  They  are  much  to  be  preferred 
to  the  common  brass  reel,  especially  in  fishing  from  a  boat ;  they 
avoid  the  noise  and  much  of  the  trouble  of  winding  up,  and  the  line 
never  kinks.' 

"  A  reel  similar  to  this  is  used  by  salmon-fishers  in  Scotland,  and 
IS  there  called  a  pirn.  It  will  require  much  practice  to  enable  the 
novice  to  cast  a  long  lino  when  tho  river  is  wide,  but  in  small  screams 
he  will  find  little  difficulty.  Some  anglers  prefer  fishing  with  tho 
gorge-hooks,  others  with  snap-hooks ;  but  my  own  experience  induces 
me  to  prefer  the  former  as  the  best  general  mode  of  trolling  ;  and  this 
kind  of  fishing  I  shall  first  describe. 


PICKEREL    FISHING. 


285 


(( 


THE      GORGE-HOOK. 


"  Is  either  a  double  or  single  hook,  fixed  on  twisted  brass  wire,  and 
loaded  on  the  shank  with  lead,  to  which  is  attached  a  piece  of  gimp, 
eight  or  ten  inches  long,  at  the  end  of  which  is  a  small  loop.  To 
bait  this  hook  you  must  have  a  brass  needle,  about  seven  inches  long ; 
put  the  loop  of  the  gimp  on  the  eye,  or  small  curve,  of  the  needle ; 
then  put  the  point  of  the  needle  in  at  the  mouth  of  the  fish,  and 
bring  it  out  at  his  tail ;  bring  the  gimp  and  wire  along  with  it,  the 
lead  being  fixed  in  the  belly  of  the  bait-fish,  and  the  hook  or  hooks 
lying  close  to  the  outside  of  his  mouth  ;  then  turn  the  points  of  the 
hooks  towards  his  eyes,  if  a  double  hook,  but  if  a  single  one,  directly 
in  a  line  with  his  belly ;  next  tie  the  fish's  tail  to  the  arming  wire 
very  neatly,  with  strong  thread.  To  the  line  on  your  reel  you  must 
attach  a  gimp-trace,  twenty-four  inches  long,  having  a  swivel  at  each 
end,  and  one  in  the  middle.  The  spring  swivel,  at  the  end  of  your 
line,  is  to  be  hooked  on  the  loop  of  your  baited  trace,  and  you  are 
ready  for  sport. 

"  When  you  are  thus  prepared,  drop  in  your  bait  lightly  before  you, 
then  cast  it  on  each  side,  and  let  the  third  throw  be  across  the  river, 
or  as  far  as  you  can  reach — still  letting  the  bait  fall  lightly  on  the 
water.  In  each  case  let  your  bait  fall  nearly  to  the  bottom  ;  then 
draw  it  up  gently  towards  you,  and  again  let  it  sink  and  rise  till  you 
draw  it  out  of  the  water  for  another  cast. 

"  I  have  before  named  the  favorite  haunts  of  the  Pike,  but  when 
you  are  in  a  good  water  you  should  carefully  fish  every  part  of  it,  for 
you  may  often  have  a  run  where  you  least  expect  it : — weeds  are  a 
great  annoyance  to  the  troUer,  and  he  will  often  bruise  his  bait,  and 
injure  his  tackle,  unless  he  is  very  cautious.  At  every  new  cast  be 
careful  to  examine  the  bait,  and  clear  it  from  leaves  and  weeds,  as  the 
Pike  is  very  dainty,  and  will  not  touch  a  soiled  bait. 

"  The  farther  you  throw  your  bait,  if  the  water  be  broad — provided 
always  that  it  falls  lightly — the  greater  your  chance  of  success,  so 
that  you  are  not  interrupted  by  weeds,  roots  of  trees,  &c. ;  and  if  the 
water  should  be  very  weedy,  you  will  be  compelled  to  drop  your  bait 
into  deep  clear  openings. 

"  When  you  feel  a  run,  let  your  line  be  perfectly  free,  and  allow 


286 


»  ( 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


the  fish  to  make  for  his  haunt  without  check  ;  and  when  he  stops  give 
out  a  little  slack  line.  By  your  watch,  give  him  ten  minutes  to  pouch 
the  bait  before  you  strike,  which  you  may  then  do,  by  first  gently 
drawing  in  your  slack  line,  and  then  striking  gently ;  but  should  your 
fish  move  soon  after  he  has  been  to  his  haunty  give  him  line,  and  he 
will  stop  again  ;  but  after  this,  if  he  move  a  second  time  before  the 
ten  minutes  are  expired,  strike,  and  you  will  most  likely  secure  him ; 
but  if  he  has  only  been  playing  with  the  bait,  you  will  have  lost  him. 

"  When  I  have  been  so  served  once  or  twice,  I  generally  resort  to 
my  snap-tackle. 

"  If  you  have  fairly  hooked  your  fish,  he  cannot  easily  break  away, 
and  as  your  tackle  is  strong,  unless  he  is  very  large,  you  need  not 
give  out  much  line,  but  hold  him  fast,  and  clear  of  the  weeds  ;  giving 
him  but  a  short  struggle  for  his  life.  The  gaff  is  better  than  a  net  for 
landing  a  large  Pike,  for  he  is  dangerous  to  handle,  and  his  bite  is 
much  to  be  dreaded. 

"  When  you  are  without  either  gaff  or  landing-net,  seize  the  fish  by 
putting  your  finger  and  thumb  into  his  eyes.  Half  a  dozen  gorge- 
hooks  may  be  carried  in  a  tin  box,  with  a  little  bran,  ready  baited, 
which  will  generally  serve  for  a  morning's  sport. 


(( 


ANGLING    AT    THE    SNAP. 


"  I  shall  first  describe  the  old  fashioned  mode,  although  it  is  now 
rarely  practised. 

"  The  spring-snap  was  formerly  much  in  use,  and  may  be  purchased 
at  any  of  the  tackle  shops.  It  consists  of  three  hooks,  the  upper  one 
small,  and  the  two  lower  hooks  large.  The  spring  confines  the  lower 
hooks,  but  the  spring  gives  way,  and  the  hooks  spread  out  when  the 
fish  is  struck,  and  hold  him  securely.  '- 

'  "  It  is  baited  by  introducing  the  point  of  the  small  hook  under  the 
skin  of  the  bait,  on  the  side,  and  bringing  it  out  at  the  back  fin.  Mr. 
Salter  gives  the  following  directions  for  the  double  hook-snap,  which 
may  be  used  either  with  a  dead  or  live  bait : 

"  '  This  snap-hook  is  a  double  hook,  or  two  single  hooks.  No.  6, 
tied  back  to  back,  on  gimp  ;  to  bait  this  snap,  use  the  baiting-needle, 
having  first  placed  the  loop  of  the  gimp  to  which  the  hooks  are  tied 


/ 


/■ 


PICKEREL    FISHING. 


287 


in  the  eye  of  the  needle.  Enter  the  point  of  the  needle  just  ahove 
the  gills  of  the  fish,  near  the  back,  avoiding  to  pierce  the  flesh  as 
much  as  possible,  as  it  is  only  intended  that  the  gimp  should  lie  just 
behind  the  skin.  Bring  the  needle  and  the  loop  of  the  gimp  out  near 
the  tail,  and  draw  till  the  hooks  lie  close  to  the  part  your  needle 
entered,  and  are  somewhat  hid  by  the  gills.  The  bait  will  live  a  long 
time  after  being  thas  hooked,  and  may  be  used  in  fishing  with  a  float, 
by  puttin?  *hrt  'an  shots  on  the  g>'TiT>  to  keep  it  down  : — always 
prefer  a  '.^ .  Igeon  this  baiting,  i  ca^'  uuis  a  snap,  bscause,  when 
fishing  this  way  for  Ja(!k,  I  strike  immediately  I  perceive  a  run,  and 
have  met  great  success  this  way  of  snap-fishing.  This  snap  may  be 
baited  with  dead  fish,  and  trolled  with.' 

"  Although  I  have  quoted  this  mode  of  keeping  a  bait '  a  long  time 
alive  on  the  hook,'  I  by  no  means  recommend  the  practice  to  my 
young  brothers  of  the  angle,  for  I  have  long  confined  mysolf  to  the 
use  of  the  dead  bait ;  and  with  the  gorge-hook,  and  the  snap  used  in 
the  manner  I  am  about  to  describe,  the  Pike-fisher  will  never  want 
sport  in  a  well-stored  water. 

"  I  have  before  said,  that  by  spinning  the  Minnow  with  the  same 
kind  of  tackle  as  that  used  in  spinning  the  Bleak  for  Thames  Trout, 
I  have  taken  many  Jack,  Pearch,  and  Trout ;  but  I  have  also  fre- 
quently lost  my  tackle,  by  the  gut  being  bitten  through  by  the  sharp 
teeth  of  the  Pike.  To  remedy  this  evil,  gimp  may  be  employed 
instead  of  gut;  indeed,  the  snap-tackle  now  generally  sold  at  the 
shops  is  of  this  description,  but  with  larger  hooks  than  I  use,  and 
coarser  gimp. 

"  The  ansler  must  now  make  his  casts  in  the  manner  recommended 
in  trolling  with  the  gorge-hook,  letting  the  bait  partly  sink,  and  then 
drawing  it  towards  him  by  gentle  touches,  by  which  means  the  bait 
will  spin  freely,  and  look  bright  and  glittering  in  the  water.  When 
you  feci  or  see  a  bite,  let  the  fish  turn,  and  then  strike  gently,  but 
still  with  sufficient  quickness  and  force  to  make  your  hooks  hold  ;  and 
now,  with  patience  and  perseverance  added  to  these  instructions,  a 
complete  disregard  of  cold  and  wind,  and  a  determination  never  to 
lose  his  temper  at  trifling  disappointments,  the  tyro  may  soon  become 
a  master." 

The  best  waters  for  Pickerel  of  all  kinds  are  deep,  slow,  sullen, 


288 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


shadowy  streams,  with  dark,  creeping  waters,  and  shores  fringed  with 
Pickerel-weed,  water-lilies,  and  marsh  grass  ;  and  the  best  places  in 
which  to  cast  for  them  are  the  edges  and  openings  of  the  floating 
weed-patchea,  under  the  cover  of  which  they  are  wont  to  lie  expecting 
their  prey. 

When  the  fish  has  taken  the  bait,  the  groat  thing  is  to  give  him 
time  enough  to  gorge  it,  and  not  to  mar  all  by  impatience  in 
striking  before  it  is  time.  Once  hooked,  a  steady  hand,  and  cool 
temper,  will  soon  ensure  his  capture  ;  for  though  he  is  strong  and 
fierce,  his  boldness  and  incautious  way  of  biting  permits  the  use  of 
very  strong  tackle  ;  and  though  he  fights  hard  for  a  while,  he  has  nei- 
ther the  arrowy  rush  nor  the  innumerable  artful  resources  of  the  true 
Salmon. 

Pickerel  fishing  with  trimmers  on  large  lakes,  as  described  under 
the  head  of  Eel  fishing,  is  by  no  means  bad  sport ;  and  if  seve- 
ral large  fish  chance,  as  is  very  often  the  case,  to  be  hooked  at  once, 
the  sinking  and  reappearance  of  the  gaily-paintod  buoys,  and  their 
rapid  motion  through  the  water  as  the  terrified  fish  rush  away  with 
them,  offer  an  amusing  spectacle,  while  the  rapid  chase  with  swiftly^ 
rowed  boats  is  full  of  gay  excitement. 

For  this  sport  all  the  limpid  ponds  and  lakelets  of  this  abundantly- 
watered  land  are  most  admirably  adapted,  from  the  farthest  regions  of 
New  England  through  all  the  Eastern  States  to  the  fine  inland  lakes 
of  Northern  Pennsylvania.  But  to  enjoy  this  sport,  or  that  of  trolling, 
in  perfection,  the  angler  should  visit  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  streams 
of  the  great  basin  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  that  stupendous  river  itself ; 
in  which,  from  the  Thousand  Islands,  among  which  swarm  both  the 
Mascalonge  and  the  Great  Northern  Pickerel,  up  to  the  farthest 
tributaries  of  Lake  Superior,  he  will  find  sport,  how  gluttonous  soever 
he  may  be  of  killing,  which  will  not  disappoint  his  wildest  wishes. 

In  the  same  manner  as  the  Pike  is  the  Pike-Pearch  or  Sandre,  Lu- 
doperca  Americana^  erroneously  called  the  Ohio  Salmon,  and  other 
absurd  provincial  nicknames,  which  is  a  very  fine  and  delicate  fish,  as 
well  as  a  very  sporting  one,  to  be  taken. 

In  the  western  waters  he  is  the  most  abundant,  and  his  favorite 
haunts  are  the  tails  of  mill-races  and  whirling  eddies  under  shady 
banks. 


/ 


riCKEREL    PI8HINO. 


289 


Him  shall  yon  surely  take  by  trolling  with  the  Shiner  or  bottom- 
fbhing  with  the  fresh -water  Cray-Fish  ;  nor  will  you  despise  him 
taken  and  smoking  on  your  board. 

The  Black  Baes  and  the  Rock  Bass,  and  the  large  Yellow  Pearch 
may  also  bo  taken  by  trolling  ;  but  there  are  for  these  fish  other  and 
more  appropriate  methods,  of  which  I  sb»U  treat  under  their  proper 
heads 


\H„ 


itft 


as 


aoo 


AMERICAN  riSUES. 


PEARCH   FISHING. 


In  every  pond  and  river  of  America  is  this  fish  found,  and  none  of 
the  smaller  and  less  vigorous  biters  are  greater  favorites  with  the 
angler. 

There  is,  in  my  opinion,  but  one  distinct  spoeios  of  the  Yellow 
Pearch  in  Ameiica,  although  there  are  several  strongly-marked,  but 
I  think  casual  varieties.  In  the  salt-water  bays,  however,  and  the 
estuaries  of  tide  rivers,  there  are  two  small  and  distinct  species  of  the 
Bass,  the  little  White  Bass,  Lahrax  Pallidus,  and  the  Ruddy  Bass, 
Labrax  Rufus^  both  of  which  are  constantly  confounded  with  the 
Pearch,  to  which  they  bear  a  strong  resemblance,  being  members  of 
one  and  the  same  family,  and  are  called  by  the  New  York  fishermen 
Sea  Pearch,  White  Pearch,  and  Salt-water  Pearch. 

These  brave  and  hardy  little  fish  run  from  a  few  ounces  up  to  a 
quarter,  and  occasionally  half  a  pound  weight,  which  may  be  considered 
their  maximum.  They  swim  in  large  shoals,  near  the  surface  of  the 
water,  and  are  a  most  delicious  fish.  The  Yellow  Pearch  is  found 
occasionally  in  company  with  them,  although  he  rather  afi'ccts  fresher 
water,  and  I  have  thought  that  when  taken  in  tide  streams  he  wears  a 
greener  garb  than  his  ordinary  dress. 

The  Minnow,  the  red  worm,  and  at  times  small  Shrimp  will  take  all 
these  varieties  in  the  salt  water  ;  and  from  the  very  earliest  dawn  of 
spring  to  the  setting  in  of  severe  cold  weather,  it  is  rare  but  the  angler 
can  find  some  sport  with  these  quick  and  lively  biters. 

In  almost  every  lakelet  and  pond  from  the  sea-board  to  Lake  Huron, 
the  Pearch  abounds,  swimming  in  company  with  the  Sun-fish,  PomoHs 
Vulgaris,  and  the  New  York  Shiner,  Stilbe  Chrysoleucas ;  they  run 
from  half  a  pound  up  to  three,  four,  and  occasionally  even  five  pounds 
weight. 

Saratoga  Lake,  the  Greenwood  Lake,  in  Orange  County,  New  York, 


PBARCH    FIHIIINO. 


391 


Hopatkong,  in  Sussex  County,  Now  Jersey,  Senoca  Lake,  and  the 
Northern  lakes,  Huron  more  espocially,  contain  theso  fish  of  tho 
largest  size,  and  in  tho  greatest  perfection,  but  every  whore  they  may 
be  caught  almost  at  any  time. 

In  pond-fishing,  the  common  ground-worm,  on  a  shotted  line  with  a 
quill-float,  is  perhaps  the  commonest  bait ;  in  America  pastes  are  but 
little  used  as  bait,  nor  in  truth  have  I  any  great  faith  in  them,  although 
they  are  recommcndod  by  many  good  anglers.  Of  late  years,  how- 
ever, I  think  they  have  lost  repute.  In  tho  days  of  old  Isaac  t];ey 
were  esteemed  almost  sovereign. 

The  Minnow,  Shiner,  or  small  Trout  is,  in  this  country,  by  all  odds, 
the  most  taking  bait.  It  should  be  affixed  to  tho  lino  by  one  or  two 
small  hooks,  cither  through  tho  lip  or  undor  tho  dorsal  fin  as  lightly 
as  possible,  and  being  sunk  with  a  shotted  gut  to  within  a  foot  or  so 
of  the  bottom,  should  be  allowed  to  swim  about  at  his  own  will. 

I  do  not  approve  of  tho  frog  for  Pearch  fishing,  although  when  in 
the  humor  they  will  take  this,  or  indeed  almost  any  fish  or  reptile 
bait.  The  following  is  Hofland's  advice  as  to  tho  mode  of  fishing  for 
him ;  and  although  the  English  and  American  spbcios  are  distinct, 
their  habits  are  identical,  and  the  rules  laid  down  below  cannot  bo 
improved  upon. 

The  general  rod  will  do  well  for  taking  Pearch,  but  a  heavy  one  is 
not  required.  A  reel  and  silk  or  grass-line  with  a  gut  bottom,  or 
gimp,  if  Pike  haunt  the  same  waters,  as  is  apt  to  be  the  cuse,  will 
produce  the  desired  effect. 

The  same  tackle  and  mode  of  fishing  will  capture,  at  times,  the 
Pickerel,  the  Pike  Pearch,  the  Rock  Bass,  and  even  the  Trout,  and 
it  is  therefore  well,  in  Pearch  fishing,  always  to  be  provided  with  the 
tackle  necessary  to  secure  larger  fish  than  those  which  you  actually 
expect  to  take,  and  to  be  prepared  and  on  the  look-out  that  you  be 
not  surprised  unawares. 

"  Tho  Pearch  loves  to  lio  by  the  side  of  the  stream,  and  under 
deep  banks,  or  near  beds  of  the  water-lily,  the  eddies  at  mill-tails, 
and  tumbling  bays,  near  the  old  piles  of  wooden  bridges,  or  old  kemp 
sheeting  ;  the  best  baits  for  a  Perch  are,  the  Minnow,  the  Gudgeon, 
the  red  worm,  and  the  Brandling. 

"  A  Minnow  may  be  used  by  fixing  a  No  9  hook  under  the  back 


I 


292 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


8n,  or  by  passing  it  througli  his  lips,  with  a  cork-float,  carrying  shot 
according  to  the  dopth  of  tho  wator.  You  should  fish  within  a  few 
inches  of  tho  bottom,  and  when  a  fish  bitos,  a  littl "  time  should  bo 
given  before  you  strike,  as  tho  Pearch  is  tender-mouthed,  and,  if  not 
well  hooked,  is  apt  to  break  his  hold.  Tho  paternoster  is  much  used 
for  Minnow  fishing  ;  it  may  be  had  at  all  tho  tacklo  ahops  ;  it  is  sunk 
by  a  small  bullet,  and  has  threo  hooks  at  diff'erorit  distances,  which 
may  be  baited  in  tho  manner  above  described  ;  but  my  favorite  mode 
of  Poarch  fishing  is,  by  spinning  tho  dead  Minnow,  which  gives  me  a 
chance,  at  the  same  time,  of  taking  Jack  and  Trout. 

"  The  Gudgeon  or  ♦he  Bleak  may  of  course  be  used  in  tho  same 
manner  when  largo  Poarch  are  expected. 

"  In  worm-fishing,  tho  Brandling  and  the  rod  worm  arc  tho  best ;  a 
No.  8  or  9  hook  may  be  employed,  and  the  float  must  be  suitable  for 
the  water.  Some  anglers  prefer  roving  for  Pearch  in  tho  following 
manner : 

"  Use  a  reel  on  your  rod,  and  have  bottom-tackle  of  three  yards  of 
gut,  with  a  hook  No.  8  or  9,  with  one  or  two  shot-corns  to  sink  the 
bait,  which  should  be  ono  or  two  well-scoured  red  worms,  and  you 
must  then  cast  your  line  across  the  stream,  letting  it  sink,  and  drawing 
it  towards  you  alternately,  till  you  feel  a  bite,  then  allow  a  few  seconds 
before  you  strike.  You  may  also  drop  this  bait  into  still,  deep  holes, 
as  in  Trout-fishing ;  indeed,  a  practical  angler — especially  an  old 
Trout-fisher — will  prefer  this  mode  of  worm-fishing  to  the  use  of  the 
float." 

After  these  apposite  instructions  there  is  little  more  to  bo  said ;  but 
I  cannot  refrain  from  quoting  a  few  lines  in  relation  to  the  habits  of 
the  Yellow  Pearch  in  the  West,  from  the  pen  of  an  admirable  writer, 
*  *  #  *  *  ^  ^jjQ  }|^  contributed  very  largely  to  our  stock  of  in- 
formation concerning  the  fishes  of  the  great  lakes  and  Western  rivers 
of  New  York,  by  his  admirable  articles  formerly  published  in  the 
Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser.  I  shall  have  occasion  to  quote  from 
him  again,  in  relation  to  the  Black  Bass,  the  Oswego  Bass,  and  the 
Lake  Sheep's-Head,  concerning  which  he  has  furnished  us  with  the 
best  information  that  we  possess : 

"  In  the  spring,  as  soon  as  the  ice  has  left  the  streams,  the  Pearch 
begins  running  up  our  creeks  to  spawn.      He  is  then  caught  in  them 


I'EARCH    riBIIINO. 


203 


ID  great  plenty.  About  tho  luiddlo  of  Miiy,  howovi^,  ho  sjeiiH  to 
prcftT  tho  Niagara's  clear  current,  and  alniost  entirely  dcH'rtM  the 
Tunawandu,  and  other  amber  waterH.  Vou  then  find  him  in  the  eddies, 
CD  the  odgu  of  Hwift  ripples,  and  often  in  tho  swift  waters,  watching 
for  the  minnow.  As  tho  water-weeds  increase  in  height,  he  ensconces 
himself  among  them,  and,  in  mid-summer,  comes  out  to  seek  his  prey 
only  in  the  morning  and  towards  night.  Ho  seems  to  delight  e^pe- 
ciuUy  in  a  grassy  bottoia  ;  and  when  tho  black  frost  has  cut  down  tho 
tall  water-weeds,  and  tho  more  delicate  herbage  that  never  attains  tho 
surface  is  withered,  ho  disappears  until  spring,  probably  secluding 
himself  in  tho  depths  of  tho  river. 

"  Tho  back  fin  of  tho  Pearch  is  largo,  and  armed  with  strong  spines, 
He  is  bold  and  ravenous.  Ho  will  not  give  way  to  the  I'iko  or  to  tho 
Black  Bass ;  and  though  ho  may  sometimes  bo  eat(>n  by  ihom,  hi.'  .:om- 
rades  will  retaliate  upon  tno  young  of  his  destroyers. 

"  Tho  proper  bait  for  the  Pearch  is  tho  Minnow.  Ho  will  ake  that 
all  seasons.  In  mid-suramor,  however,  he  prefers  th,i  «:(vm,  at  which 
ho  generally  bites  freely.  Ho  is  often  taken  with  .bo  grub,  or  with 
small  pieces  of  fish  of  any  kind." 

1  may  hero  observe  that  the  Pearch,  like  his  congeners,  the  various 
tribes  of  Bass,  will  occasionally  take  the  fly,  though  not  so  bnWly  or 
freely  as  to  justify  its  use  largely. 


,  ST-         <N 


fr-v_ 


<mi. 


■l-^Mi^ 


^ 


m- 


S94 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


CARI    FISHING. 


This,  I  confess,  I  regard  as  very  miserable  Fport,  for  though  the 
fish  is  shy  and  wary,  the  difficulty  in  taking  him  arises  only  from  his 
timidity  and  unwillingness  to  bite,  and  he  is  as  lazy  when  hooked  as  he 
is  slow  to  bite. 

His  proper  haunts  are  deep,  stagnant,  slow-flowing  streams,  or  ponds 
with  muddy  bottoms ;  and  he  lies  under  weeds,  and  among  the  stems 
and  flat  leaves  of  water-lilies,  flags,  and  marsh-grasses. 

Not  indigenous  to  this  country,  he  has  been  naturalized  in  the 
waters  of  the  Hudson,  where  he  is,  for  the  present,  protected  by 
severe  legislative  enactments. 

He  will  doubtless,  ere  long,  become  very  plentiful ;  and  as  he  is  a 
rich  fish  when  cooked  secundum  artem,  and  by  many  esteemed  a  great 
delicacy,  he  is  likely  enough  to  become  a  favorite  with  the  angler. 

Hofland  thus  describes  the  method  of  baiting  the  ground  and  fishing 
for  Carp  in  England,  and  his  directions  are  the  best  I  have  seen ;  they 
may  by  followed  with  implicit  confidence  : 

"  In  rivers,  the  Carp  prefer  those  parts  where  the  current  is  not  too 
strong,  and  where  the  bottom  is  marly,  or  muddy ;  and  in  lakes  or 
ponds  are  to  be  found  near  beds  of  water-lilies,  and  other  aquatic 
plants.  Old  Carp  are  very  crafty  and  wary,  and  will  not  easily  be 
taken  by  the  angler  ;  but  young  ones,  when  a  pond  is  well  stocked, 
may  be  easily  taken  in  great  quantities. 

*'  Notwithstanding  these  instances  of  familiarity,  it  is  by  no  means 
easy  to  make  a  large  Carp  familiar  with  your  bait :  to  do  this,  the 
greatest  nicety  and  caution  must  be  observed ;  but  if  the  young  angler, 
who  has  been  often  foiled  in  his  attempts,  will  patiently  and  implicitly 
follow  my  instructions,  he  will  become  a  match  for  this  cunning  fish. 

"  Use  a  strong  rod  with  running-tackle,  and  have  a  bottom  of 
three  yards  of  fineish  gut,  and  a  hook  No.  9  or  10  ;  use  a  very  light 


r, 


CARP    FISHING. 


295 


quill-float,  that  will  carry  two  small  shot,  and  bait  with  a  well-sooured 
red  worm. 

"  Now  plumb  the  depth  with  the  greatest  nicety,  and  let  your  bait 
just  touch,  or  all  but  touch,  the  bottom ;  but  you  are  not  yet  pre- 
pared ;  for  a  forked  stick  must  be  fixed  into  the  bank,  on  which  you 
must  let  your  rod  rest,  so  that  the  float  will  fall  over  the  exact  spot 
you  have  plumbed.  Now  throw  in  a  sufficient  quantity  of  ground- 
bait,  of  bread  and  brand  worked  into  a  paste,  and  made  into  littla 
balls ;  or,  in  want  of  these,  throw  in  the  garbage  of  chickens  or  ducks ; 
and  all  this  is  to  be  done  on  the  evening  of  the  day  before  you  intend 
to  fish. 

"  The  next  morning,  if  in  summer,  be  at  the  pond-side  where  you 
have  baited  and  plumbed  your  depth,  by  four  o'clock  at  least,  and, 
taking  your  rod  and  line,  which  is  already  fixed  to  the  exact  depth, 
bait  with  a  small,  bright,  red  worm  ;  then  approach  the  water  cau- 
tiously, keeping  out  of  sight  as  much  as  possible,  and  drop  your  bait 
exactly  over  the  spot  you  plumbed  over  night ;  then  rest  part  of  your 
rod  on  the  forked  stick,  and  the  bottom  of  it  on  the  ground. 

"  You  must  now  retire  a  few  paces,  keeping  entirely  out  of  sight, 
but  still  near  enough  to  observe  your  float ;  when  you  perceive  a  bite, 
give  a  little  time  ;  indeed,  it  is  better  to  wait  till  you  see  the  float 
begin  to  move  off,  before  you  strike,  which  you  may  then  do  smartly ; 
and,  as  the  Carp  is  a  leather-mouthed  fish,  if  you  manage  him  well, 
there  is  no  fear  of  losing  him,  unless  the  pond  is  very  weedy.  Be 
careful  to  have  your  line  free,  that,  if  a  large  fish,  he  may  run  out 
some  of  your  line  before  you  attempt  to  turn  him  ;  as  he  is  a  very 
strong  fish,  and  your  tackle  rather  light,  you  must  give  him  careful 
play  before  you  land  him. 

"  The  extreme  shyness  of  the  large  Carp  make  all  this  somewhat 
tedious  process  necessary  to  ensure  success ;  but  I  can  safely  assert, 
that  I  scarcely  ever  took  this  trouble  in  vain.  Various  baits  are 
recommended  for  Carp — such  as  green  peas,  parboiled,  pastes  of  all 
descriptions,  gentles,  caterpillars,  &c. ;  but  I  have  found  the  red  worm 
the  best,  and  next  to  this,  the  gentle,  and  plain  bread-paste.  Those 
who  prefer  a  sweet  paste  may  dip  the  bread  in  honey.  Paste  and 
gentle  will  answer  better  in  autumn  than  spring.  April  and  May  are, 
in  my  opinion,  the  best  months  for  Carp  fishing ;  and  very  early  in 


296 


AMEMCAN    FISHES. 


the  morning,  or  late  in  the  evening,  is  the  best  time  for  pursuing  your 
sport."  I 

The  above  mode  of  baiting  bottom  grounds,  and  of  fishing  with  the 
worm,  in  all  its  particulars,  may  bo  pursued  with  perfect  success  in 
all  ponds  and  slow-running  streams,  for  all  the  many  species  of  the 
Carp  family,  which  are,  for  the  most  part,  the  least  carnivorous  of 
fishes,  and  consequently  the  most  difficult  to  allure,  as  the  Bream, 
Hoach,  Dace,  Chub,  and  Shiner,  as  they  are  provincially  termed, 
though  by  no  means  identical  with  the  European  fishes  of  the  same 
names.  The  Suckers,  Catastomij  a  sub-genus  of  the  same  family, 
will  hardly  take  any  bait  whatsoever. 

While  fishing,  as  above  described,  both  small  river  Pearch  and  Eels 
of  all  sizes  are  likely  to  be  hooked,  as  the  baited  bottom-ground  allures 
all  those  species  which  seek  their  feed  at  the  bottom  to  its  vicinity 


\ 


STRIPED    BASS    FISHING. 


297 


* 

^ 


STRIPED   BASS   FISHING. 


With  the  sole  exception  of  Salmon  fishing,  this  is  the  finest  of  tVie 
seaboard  varieties  of  piscatorial  sport.  The  Striped  Bass  is  the  bold- 
est, bravest,  strongest,  and  most  active  fish  that  visits  the  waters  of 
the  midland  States,  and  is,  as  I  have  before  observed,  to  be  surpassed 
only  by  the  Salmon. 

Everywhere,  from  the  capes  of  the  Chesapeake  to  the  St.  Lawrence, 
they  run  up  the  rivers  to  spawn  in  the  early  spring,  and  shelter  them- 
selves in  i\iQ  shallow  lagoons  within  the  outer  bars  during  the  winter. 

Everywhere  they  are  fished  for  eagerly,  and  esteemed  alike  a  prize 
by  the  angler  and  the  epicure. 

In  every  manner  they  are  fished  for  with  success,  and  with  almost 
every  bait. 

The  fly  will  take  them  brilliantly,  and  at  the  end  of  three  hundred 
yards  of  Salmon-line  a  twelve  pound  Bass  will  be  found  quite  sufficient 
to  keep  even  the  most  skilful  angler's  hands  as  full  as  he  can  possibly 
desire. 

The  fly  to  be  used  is  any  of  the  large  Salmon-flies,  the  larger  and 
gaudier  the  better.  None  is  more  taking  than  an  orange  body  with 
peacock  and  blue-jay  wings  and  black  hackle  legs ;  but  any  of  the 
well-known  Salmon  flies  will  secure  him,  as  will  the  scarlet-bodied  fly 
with  scarlet-ibis  and  silver-pheasant  wings  which  is  so  killing  to  the 
Black  Bass  of  the  lakes. 

With  the  fly,  he  is  to  be  fished  for  with  the  double-handed  rod,  pre- 
cisely as  the  Salmon ;  and  when  hooked,  though  he  has  not  all  the 
artifice  and  resource  of  that  monarch  of  the  deep,  he  is  hardly  inferior 
to  him  in  agility,  strength,  and  vigor  of  resistance. 

It  is  singular  that  more  recourse  is  not  had  tc  this  mode  of  taking 
him,  as  in  waters  where  the  Salmon  is  not,  there  is  no  sport  equal  to  it. 

Those  who  try  this  method  will  not,  I  dare  to  assert,  regret  the 
20 


\  \ 


298 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


trial ;  they  must,  however,  fish  from  a  boat,  as  the  width  of  the 
streams  which  Bass  frequent  do  not  permit  them  to  be  commanded 
from  the  shores,  even  with  the  double-handed  rod. 

Again,  the  Striped  Bass  may  bo  caught  either  with  the  gorge-hook 
and  the  trolling  tackle  described  under  the  head  of  Pike-fishing,  or 
with  the  spinning-fish  and  swivel-traces  recommended  for  taking  the 
Salmon.  Almost  any  small  fish  will  answer  for  the  bait,  but  the  New 
York  Shiner,  the  real  Smelt,  or  the  Athcrine — alias  Sand  Smelt  or 
Spearling — especially  the  latter,  will  the  most  readily  allure  him. 
This  method  of  fishing,  second  only  to  the  use  of  the  fly,  is  the  most 
exciting,  as  it  requires  finer  tackle,  and  consequently  calls  forth  far 
more  skill,  than  the  ordinary  modes  of  fishing  for  him  at  the  bottom. 

For  boat  fishing,  a  strong  ash  or  hickory,  and  lance-wood,  rod,  with 
patent  guides  and  the  new  agate  funnel-top,  which  can  be  procured  at 
Conroy^s,  and  is  one  of  the  most  perfect  improvements  of  the  day, 
with  a  Salmon-reel  and  two  hundred  yards  of  silk  or  grass  line,  will  be 
found  the  best ;  of  course,  for  Salmon-fishing,  the  hau*  and  silk  line 
takes  the  precedence  of  all  others.  A  rod  of  twelve  or  fourteen  feet 
will  suffice  from  a  boat,  but  for  bank  or  bridge  fishing  one  of  about 
eighteen  feet  is  preferred  by  the  best  fibners. 

Comparatively  few  persons  troll  for  Bass  as  described  above  ;  for, 
in  fact,  the  great  majority,  even  of  our  good  fishermen,  are  in  some 
sort  pot-anglers,  and  prefer  taking  monstrous  giants  of  the  water  with 
coarse  tackle,  to  the  far  greater  excitement  of  skilfully  and  delicately 
conquering  a  moderate-sized  fish  with  the  finest  tackle.  The  Striped 
Bass,  it  is  said,  is  known  to  attain  the  weight  of  a  hundred  pounds ; 
but  such  giants  are  rare,  though  up  to  forty  or  fifty  pounds  they  are 
no  rarities.  The  largest  fish  are  taken  iir  deep,  rapid  tide-ways,  such 
as  Hellgate  or  the  Haerlem  river,  by  trolling  from  the  stern  of  a  row- 
boat  with  a  strong  hand-line  and  a  large  hook  baited  with  that  hideous 
piscine  reptile,  or  insect  rather,  the  real  squid,  or  with  the  artificial 
squid  of  tin  or  pewter.  A  good  deal  of  skill  is  required  for  this  mode 
of  fishing,  but  yet  more  strength  than  skill,  and  it  is  a  very  wearisome 
pursuit. 

Still  more  fatigoiing  is  the  exercise  of  squidding  for  them  with  the 
artificial  bait  in  the  ocean  surfs  of  the  outer  beaches,  in  which  the  toil 
of  throwing  out  and  dragging  in  the  squid  becomes  a  real  labor 


/ 


STRIPED    BASS    FISHING. 


299 


the 
toil 


Neither  of  these  methods,  any  more  than  taking  them  on  set-lines 
baited  with  Spearling  or  Tom-Cod,  as  is  very  successfully  practised  in 
the  Hudson,  do  I  regard  as  legitimate  or  honest  fishing ;  and  they  are 
resorted  to  rather  by  the  professional  fisherman  than  by  the  amateur 
for  sport. 

Nor  can  I  say  that  I  look  with  much  sympathy  on  those  who  fish 
for  them  as  is  the  usual  practice  at  Macomb's  dam.  King's  bridge,  or 
Belleville  bridge  on  the  Passaic,  and  similar  places,  with  floats 
and  sinkers  and  the  bottom  baits ;  though  I  confess  that  the  size  and 
vigor  of  the  fish  when  hooked,  render  this  the  finest  of  all  the  kinds 
of  bait-fishing. 

The  rule  is,  to  fish  as  near  the  bottom  as  possible,  with  a  sinker 
light  enough  to  move  with  the  tide.  The  hook  should  be  large,  and 
[  believe  the  Kirby  form  is  generally  preferred  to  the  Limerick.  Some 
anglers  recommend  the  use  of  double,  others  of  single  gut ;  and  some 
fish  with,  others  without  the  float ;  both  plans  have  their  own  advan- 
tages, and  probably  there  is  little  difference  in  reality  between  the 
two. 

In  rivers  frequented  by  Shad,  the  Shad-roe,  either  fresh,  or  preserv- 
ed and  potted,  as  described  above  in  reference  to  Salmon,  is  the  most 
killing  bait  that  can  be  used  in  the  Spring-time,  and  is  especially  the 
favorite  bait  of  the  Passaic  anglers  at  the  Belleville  bridge  and  the 
reefs  near  Acquackanonck  I  have  no  doubt  of  its  success  in  the 
upper  Delaware  so  high  as  Milford,  where  the  Bass,  there  called 
Rock-Fish,  is  taken  of  rare  excellence.  In  tide-ways  it  is  obviously 
useless,  since  the  Shad  never  spawn  in  such  places,  and  as  animals  in 
a  state  of  nature  feed  naturally,  the  Bass  never  looks  for,  nor  will 
take,  such  a  bait,  except  in  spots  where  it  abounds  naturally. 

The  Bass  may  be  fished  for  with  success  from  early  in  April,  some- 
times even  in  March,  until  late  in  October  and  September.  On  his 
first  appearance,  and  up  to  the  latter  part  of  Juno,  tho  shrimp  is  the 
best  bait ;  and  it  should  be  used  with  a  float,  suspended  at  ten  or  eleven 
inches  distant  from  the  bottom.  From  June,  throughout  the  summer 
the  sheddor  crab  attracts  the  Striped  Bass  rather  than  any  other  bait 
A  sliding  sinker  should  be  used  in  this  instance,  which  rests  on  the 
itround,  and  allows  the  crab  to  move  on  the  bottom.  No  float  is  re- 
C[uired  for  this  method. 


800 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


So  soon  as  the  season  is  so  far  advanced  that  the  shedder  has  re- 
covered his  scaly  panoply,  which  sets  his  enemies'  assaults  at  defiance, 
the  shrimp  again  comes  into  play,  and,  with  the  virions  kinds  of  small 
salt-water  fishes,  constitutes  the  best  river  baits. 

For  boat  fishing  in  the  bay,  with  sinkers — as  for  the  Weak-Fish, 
King  Fish,  and  others,  among  which  the  Striped  Bass  is  taken,  the 
soft  clam  is  the  favorite  appliance ;  and  for  this  kind  of  sport  full  and 
ueapt  tides,  and  a  wind  off  shore,  are  the  best  periods. 

In  killing  the  Bass,  after  he  is  hooked,  great  skill,  great  persever- 
ance, and  incessant  vigilance  are  necessary.  It  is  a  sirie  qua  non  to 
keep  him  up,  frustrating  his  efforts  to  rush  to  the  bottom,  and  to  hold 
him  ever  in  hand,  with  a  taut  line,  ceding  nothing  to  his  wildest 
efforts,  except  on  absolute  compulsion. 

Excellent  tackle  is  requisite,  and  to  preserve  it  excellent,  constant 
attention  to  it  must  be  had,  or  all  will  be  in  vain.  Nothing  is  more 
provoking  than  to  lose  a  fine  fish,  well  played,  and  perhaps  all  but 
killed,  owing  to  some  slight  imperfection  in  the  gut  bottom  or  the 
arming  of  the  hooks,  which  care,  before  coming  to  the  water's  edge, 
would  have  easily  and  surely  prevented. 

Whether  the  Striped  Bass  has  ever  been  killed  by  the  fatal  spoon, 
I  know  not ;  but  I  cannot  doubt  that  it  would  be  found  nearly  as  effec- 
tive as  with  its  congener,  the  splendid  Black  Bass  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
to  which  I  shall  now  proceed;  / 


BLACK    BASS    FISHING 


3(>t 


BLACK  BASS  FISHING 


IN    THE     ST.  LAWRENCE. 


From  the  Files  of  the  BuflFalo  Commercial  I  borrow  the  following 
description  of  the  habits,  haunts,  and  modes  of  taking  the  Black  and 
Oswego  Bass — if  diflFerent  they  be,  as  I  believe  they  are  in  the  Niagara 
river.  It  is  by  the  same  distinguished  sportsman  and  sound  naturalist 
to  whom  I  have  before  alluded  in  ray  article  on  the  Pearch. 

I  prefer  quoting  him  to  writing  of  this  fish  myself;  as  although  not 
unacquainted  with  his  habits,  I  have  never  yet  myself  enjoyed  the 


the 


th 


pleasure   of  catching  him   either  with  the   fly,   tne   spoon,   or 
shiner  : 

"  The  Oswego  Bass  and  Black  Bass  bear  so  strong  a  resemblance  to 
each  other,  that  not  one  fisherman  in  ten  knows  them  as  distinct  en- 
tities. In  form,  color,  weight,  and  habits,  the  two  are  almost  pex*- 
fectly  identical ;  and  yet  their  differences,  though  minute,  are  striking 
and  essential.  An  Oswego  Bass,  when  placed  by  a  Black  Bass  of  the 
same  size,  is  readily  distinguished  by  his  more  forked  tail,  his  greater 
thickness  of  shoulder,  his  coarser  scales,  and,  above  all,  by  his  mouth, 
which,  when  open,  is  nearly  twice  as  large  as  that  of  the  Black  Bass. 
In  Lake  Ontario,  the  Oswego  Bass  is  abundant,  and  the  Black  Bass 
comparatively  rare.  In  Lake  Erie,  the  Black  Bass  greatly  predomi- 
nates, and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  Oswegoaian — like  certain 
citizens  of  the  Ontario  shore — ^is  not  an  interloper  in  our  waters,  who 
has  found  his  way  to  us  from  below,  through  some  canal.  However 
this  may  be,  he  is  certainly  right  welcome  ! 

"  The  Black  Bass  is  our  chief  object  of  pursuit — ^his  capture  is  our 
dearest  triumph — his  captive  form  our  proudest  trophy.  When  word 
first  comes,  in  June,  that  the  Black  Bass  bites  in  our  river,  what  a 
stir  there  is  among  our  anglers  ! — what  questioning  as  to  the  when. 


302 


AMERICAN    FISHEB 


and  the  where,  and  by  whom,  and  with  what  bait,  and  the  number, 
and  size  ! — what  an  anxious  inquiry  after  big  minnows  ! — what  a  rak- 
ing and  scraping  of  pond-holes  for  soft  lobsters ! — what  a  watching  of 
the  skies ! — and,  if  there  be  no  wind,  or  a  zephyr  from  the  south  or 
west,  what  bright  and  hopeful  faces ! — but  if  the  storm  rage,  or  an 
easterly  wind,  however  gentle,  fan  <iur  sleeping  bay,  what  rueful  coun- 
tenances ! — what  half-suppressed  repining  ! — what  a  woful,  spiritless 
attempting  to  be  busy  about  our  ordinary  avocations !  And  why  ini$ 
commotion  ?  Because  this  is  the  very  prince  of  our  game-fi'h^^.  His 
capture  is  a  less  easy  task,  and  involves,  or  is  supposed  x^  involve, 
more  science,  and  to  be  a  truer  proof  of  merit  as  an  angler,  than  any 
other  tenant  of  our  crystal  waters.  But — let  me  whisper  it  in  thy  ear, 
my  friend ! — there  is  much  of  fancy  in  all  this.  He  is  a  noble  fish, 
and  struggles  vigorously  and  most  pertinaciously  for  liberty  ;  but  no 
art  nor  skill,  unattainable  by  thee,  or  any  one,  is  requisite  to  hook  or 
draw  him  from  his  element.  n 

"  This  fish  beds  in  our  streams  and  rivers,  and  probably,  too,  on 
the  bars  and  shoals  of  our  bay.  Numbers  run  up  the  larger  streams 
in  May,  and  bite  freely  at  the  worm,  in  the  middle  and  latter  part  of 
that  month,  in  the  Tonawanda.  His  appsarancc  is  too  familiar  to 
need  description.  His  color  varies,  though  it  gsnerally  approaches 
black.  I  think  only  the  smaller  Bass  run  up  the  creeks.  Those  taken 
in  Tonawanda  seldom  overweigh  two  or  two  and  a  half  pounds,  and 
have  a  greenish  hue.  In  the  river  they  attain  a  weight  of  four  and  four 
and  a  half,  and  even  five  pounds  ;  and  occasionally  heavier  ones  have 
been  taken,  weighing  even  eight  pounds.  The  river  fish,  when  fresh 
from  the  water,  is  frequently  band  3d,  like  the  Pearch,  with  broad 
bars  of  a  darker  hue,  which  disappear,  however,  and  fade  into  the 
general  color  of  the  fish  as  he  becomes  dry.  He  seldom  takes  the 
hook,  in  the  Niagara,  until  June.  He  is  always  fine  eating,  but  is 
fattest  and  best  in  autumn."  '     v 

"  He  is  angled  for,"  says  Mr.  Brown,  "in  the  usual  way,  and  with 
the  same  arrangement  of  tackle  as  the  Striped  Bass  or  Salmon  ;  and 
with  some  enthusiastic  western  sportsmen,  is  thought  to  give  more 
amusement  than  either.  But  the  most  active  and  exciting  mode  of 
pursuit  is  with  the  trolling  rod  and  boat.  We  are  indebted  to  a  friend 
who  has  frequented  Lake  George,  for  the  following  interesting  com- 
munication :  , 


BLACK    BASS    FISUINn. 


303 


"  '  This  is  a  game  fish,  affording  the  angbr  tlij  vory  highest  enjoy 
luent.  Thosa  fish  are  taken  in  various  ways.  When  collected  on 
their  feeding  grounds,  in  August  and  the  succeeding  fall  months, 
they  arc  sometimes  taken  in  considerable  numbers.  The  usual  mode 
of  angling  for  them  at  this  time,  is  either  with  or  without  a  float, 
and  with  live  bait — a  small  fish  taken  for  th;3  pui'pos3,  along  the  lake 
shores  or  in  brooks.  They  arc  exceedingly  strong  and  active — 
qualities  which  delight  tha  angler.  Whon  first  hooked,  they  run 
vjry  wild,  and  almost  invariably  rise  to  tUu  surface,  and  leap  one, 
two,  and  even  three  feet  in  the  air,  shaking  the  head  violently,  evi- 
dantly  with  a  view  to  dislodge  the  fatal  hook.  Frequently,  while 
making  their  runs,  they  will  suddenly  turn  and  come  with  all  their 
power  directly  towards  their  enemy,  and  by  thus  slacking  the  lino, 
will  succeed  in  shaking  the  hook  loose  :  this  often  happens  with  in- 
experienced fishermen,  but  more  rarely  with  the  angler  who  holds  a 
good  reel  and  winds  rapidly.  The  most  beautiful  mode  of  angling 
for  them  known,  is  trolling,  cither  with  live  bait  or  an  artificial  fly 
of  large  size  and  gay  appearance.  The  writer  has  succeeded  re- 
markably well  with  a  fly  made  on  a  large-sized  Limerick  hook,  such 
as  are  used  for  Striped  Bass  when  fishing  with  crab  bait.  The  fly 
is  made  as  follows : — Body  of  a  peacock  feather,  wings  of  bright 
scarlet  kerseymere  and  white  pigeon  feathers  ;  or,  the  feather  strip- 
ped from  a  white  goose-quill,  and  wound  round  like  the  hackle,  and 
surmounted  with  thin  strips  of  scarlet  forwings.  For  trolling  plea- 
santly and  comfortably,  the  angler  should  provide  a  moveable  seat, 
which  he  can  place  across  the  gunwale  of  his  boat,  in  order  that  he 
may  sit  with  his  back  to  the  oarsman,  and  facing  the  stern.  Thus 
ho  will  have  full  command  of  his  rod  and  line,  and  not  be  sitting 
in  the  cramping  attitude  which  the  lowness  of  the  seats  would  cause. 
He  should  reel  off  fifty  to  sixty,  or  even  one  hundred  or  more  feet 
of  line,  and  in  going  over  shallow  reefs  of  seven  or  eight  feet  depth, 
two  hundred  feet,  as  the  fish  feeding  on  the  reefs  usually  dart  aside  as 
the  boat  passes,  and  do  not  return  immediately  to  their  harboring  spot, 
which  is  one  reason  why  those  who  do  not  use  the  reel  are  not  as  suc- 
cessful as  those  who  employ  it.  After  a  few  moments  they  glide  back 
to  their  favorite  spot,  and  as  the  fly  comes  along,  dart  at  and  seize  it. 
A  strong  tug  is  felt  by  the  angler,  who  has  only  to  draw  gently,  and 


304 


*  \ 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


bis  prey  is  fostoucd.  Tho  oarsman  rests  on  his  oars,  to  give  the 
angler  full  command  of  his  liuo.  Tho  noble  fish,  after  one  or  two 
runs  to  right  and  loft,  suddenly  rinus  and  makes  his  splendid  leap,  and 
plunging,  again  seeks  ^'ae  bottom,  again  rises,  and  then  tries  his  last 
experiment  of  dashing  right  towards  the  boat.  He  struggles  long  and 
vigorously,  but  his  strength  is  at  last  exhausted,  and  you  trail  your  un- 
resisting captive  to  tho  landing  net.  I  have  taken  them  of  various 
weights,  the  largest  weighing  five  pounds  nine  ounces :  this  was  done 
last  summer,  1844,  in  Lake  George.  I  believe  they  are  sometimes 
taken  much  higher  in  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  and  upper  lakes ;  but 
my  acquaintance  with  them  is  limited  to  the  beautiful  lake  just  ment- 
ioned. 

*  At  Shcrrill'e  capital  hotel  at  Caldwell,  every  facility  for  enjoying 
this  delightful  sport  can  be  had,  though  the  best  fishing  grounds  are 
down  the  lake. 

*  An  excellent  house  is  kept  by  Mr.  Garfield,  twenty-two  miles 
down  the  lake,  where  the  best  fishing  stations  for  the  Salmon  Trout 
ftre  situated      There  is  a  good  deal  of  fine  ground  for  the  Bass  in  the 

.  neighborhood. 

*  About  ten  miles  from  Caldwell,  there  is  a  place  called  the  Narrows, 
where  there  are  numerous  small  islands,  with  shelving  rocky  shores, 
and  fine  trolling  ground. 

*  Anglers  will  find  good  plain  accommodation  at  a  house  kept  by 
Mr.  Lyman,  who  is  very  kind  and  attentive  to  his  guests,  and  furnishes 
baits,  guides,  &o. 

*  In  trolling  for  the  Black  Bass  in  Lake  George,  you  will  fre- 
quently strike  those  of  one-half  to  three-fourths  pound  weight,  even 
with  the  very  large  fly  which  I  have  described.  There  is  so  great  a 
diflFerence,  both  in  shape  and  color,  between  the  fish  of  this  size  and 
those  of  two  or  more  pounds  weight,  that  a  stranger  would  never  take 
them  to  be  of  the  same  species.  These  small  fish  are  very  similar  in 
shape  to  the  Blue-Fish  of  the  salt-water,  while  those  of  the  larger  size 
spread  in  width  as  they  increase  in  size,  so  that  a  fish  of  two  and  a 
half  to  three  pounds,  is  of  a  shape  between  a  Black-Fish,  or  Tuutog, 
and  the  famous  Sheep's-Head.  In  color  they  differ  also  greatly  ;  the 
small  Bass  being  of  a  light  dull  greenish  color,  while  the  larger  grow 
darker  as  they  increase  in  size,  the  largest  being  nearly  black  on  the 


BLACK    BASS    FISHINO. 


305 


back,  and  of  a  ^ery  dark  brownish  groon  on  the  sides.  The  younger 
gentry,  above  described,  arc  not  to  be  despised  on  account  of  their 
size,  for  wuen  taken  with  a  light  Trout-rod,  they  will  bo  found  to  bo 
a  fine  vigorous  fish  ;  and  when  in  their  temerity  they  seize  tho  large 
fly,  on  feeling  the  hook,  they  will,  true  to  their  nature,  make  the  leap, 
in  imitation  of  their  sires,  thus  showing  themselves  to  bo  game  fish. 
I  have  known  them  to  leop  three  times  while  reeling  in  the  long  trol- 
ling lino,  whereas  the  larger  gentry  rar-ly  leap  more  than  once.' " 

In  addition  to  this  I  will  only  add — for  all  that  \h  said  here  i^  correct 
and  clear — that  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  among  the  Thousand  Lilands,  this 
admirable  fish  is  taken  in  unequalled  numbers,  and  of  unrivalled 
excellence.  That  in  tho  Black  river  they  arc  likewise  very  abundant, 
and  rise  in  it  very  freely  to  any  gaudy  fly.  A  friend  of  my  own  has 
killed  many  of  this  fine  Bass  with  a  large  red  hackle,  with  a  gold  tinsel 
body,  and  also  with  a  green-tailed  grttnnam.  The  best  fiy,  however,  is 
decidedly  one  manufactured  by  Conroy,  after  the  colors  of  that  de- 
scribed in  the  above  quotation,  with  a  scarlet  chenil  body,  under  wings 
of  the  red  ibis,  and  upper  wings  of  silver  pheasant ;  this  will  be  found 
unfailing. 

A  singular  fact,  which  obviously,  though  oddly  enough,  esc.pcd  the 
observation  of  my  friend  at  Buff'alo,  is  that  at  the  first  appearance  of  the 
Black  Bass  at  tho  mouth  of  the  Niagara,  say  in  the  latter  part  of  May, 
the  fish  all  lie  around  a  reef  on  tho  Fort  Niagara — or  American  — 
side  of  the  river,  not  one  being  ever,  at  that  period,  taken  on  the 
Canadian  reef  opposite.  After  about  six  weeks'  residence,  however, 
they  change  sides,  and  cross  over,  deserting  the  American  shore  alto- 
gether, and  being  taken  only  on  the  Canadian  side. 

The  New  York  Shiner  is  there  esteemed  the  best  bait,  and  with  it, 
in  last  May,  an  officer  and  three  men  in  H.  M.  service,  caught  in  a 
few  hours  enough  of  these  fish  to  load  two  strong  men  to  their  heart's 
content. 

The  small  Rock  Bass  of  the  lakes  is  taken  off  the  wharfs  and  docks 
on  all  the  same  waters,  from  Kingston  to  Lake  Superior,  with  the 
Minnow  or  small  Shiner,  though  rarely  with  the  fly.  It  is  a  good 
fish,  but  rarely  exceeds  a  pound  in  weiixht. 

From  the  first  writer  I  here  quote  a  few  lines  concerning  the  Lake 
Sheep's-Head,  Corvina  Osculuy  to  which  I  have  alluded  before,  but 


306 


AMERICAN  FtStlES. 


which  must  not  ho  confountlod  with  the  MaluHhcgnnny —  or  Black 
SheopVIIcad,  Corriwrt  idicA^/r^/sw«i,  a  congenerous  fiwh,  taken  nenrly 
in  the  eaine  waters,  and  with  the  same  bait — any,  to  wit,  of  the  fronh- 
watcr  MolIuscaH,  and,  above  all,  with  the  Cray-Fish — which  in  uh  ex- 
cellent as  this  other  is  abominable  on  the  table  : 

"  This  is  a  villain  in  general  estimation — the  pest  of  the  fisher  for 
Basfl — a  fish  that  putteth  the  cook,  who  would  render  him  acceptable 
at  table,  in  a  quandary — from  which,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  I  cannot  re- 
lievo her,  though  she  be  at  her  wit's  end. 

"  He  is  generally  brown,  gray  or  reddish  above,  and  of  a  dead,  im- 
pure white  below.  His  head  is  large,  and  his  body  is  flattened  latterly, 
though  the  frying-pan  rejecteth  him.  His  ordinary  weight  is  two  or 
three  pounds,  though  he  sometimes  weighs  five,  and  even  six.  His 
food,  his  haunts,  his  habits,  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Black  Bass, 
whom  he  ever  accompanieth,  as  though  he  were  intended  by  nature  as 
a  foil  to  set  off  the  merits  of  that  jewel  of  the  flood.  He  is  despised, 
yea,  detested,  by  the  choleric  angler,  who  pulls  him  out,  and  then 
dasheth  him  upon  the  stones. 

"  The  Sheep's-Head  of  the  sea  is  a  lusty,  crafty  fish,  bcpraised  alike 
by  the  fisherman  and  the  epicure.  At  the  turn  of  the  tide,  he  takes 
the  whole  soft  clam  on  your  hook  at  a  mouthful,  and  chews  it,  shell 
and  all,  and  pulls  like  a  Salmon  as  you  draw  him  in  ;  and  his  radiant, 
deep  and  broad-barred  sides — as  he  flaps  about  on  the  sand  of  thaJ 
low  islet  in  the  great  south  bay  of  Long  Island,  to  which  you  have  just 
hauled  him — how  brilliantly  they  show,  and  make  you  think  of  the 
dying  Dolphin,  and  of  old  Arion  !  And  when  he  reposes  at  the  head 
of  the  table — fit  place  for  him — beautiful,  though  boiled,  how  heartfelt 
is  the  homage  he  receives  from  all  around  !  Truly,  it  is  libel  on  him, 
to  call  by  the  same  name  this  Paria  of  the  lakes. 

"  And  yet  our  fish  is  vigorous,  and  not  altogether  destitute  of  beauty, 
to  the  eye  at  least  of  those  who  know  him  not.  Is  it  not  chronicled, 
that  at  Black-Rock,  a  strange  angler  once  bartered  away  two  noble 
Bass  for  two  large  Sheep's-Heads,  which,  for  the  nonce,  were  called 
White  Bass  .''  '  The  freckled  toad,  ugly  and  venomous,  wears  yet  a 
precious  jewel  in  his  head' — and  our  fish,  in  his  clumsy  cranium, 
wears  two  small  loose  bones,  serrate,  and  white  and  polished,  whicl; 
must  have  some  use  to  him,  some  wondrous  adaptation  to  his  mode  of 


/ 


BLACK    BASS    riAMINO. 


307 


life,  which,  when  unfolded,  will  prove  that  ho  Ia  not  unregarded  by 
Him  who  made  the  great  whales  and  the  fishcB  of  the  sea. 

"  His  mouth  is  paved  with  large,  flat,  rough  bones,  or  teeth,  like 
those  of  the  sea  fishes  that  root  up  and  devour  the  hardest  tostaco.e ; 
and  I  have  little  doubt  but  that  the  naturalist  who  watches  him 
narrowly,  will  one  of  these  days  detect  him  crushing  and  consuming 
the  Uni  and  Anadontas — the  fresh  clams  of  our  muddy  flats  and 
.sandy  bars. 

"  Ho  bites  at  the  worm,  the  Minnow,  the  Chub,  tho  Lobster,  and 
makes  good  play  with  the  lino,  though  ho  gives  in  more  quickly  than 
the  Bass  An  experienced  angler  can  generally  distinguish  his  bite 
and  his  resistance — but  tho  most  knowing  ones  are  sometimes  taken 
in,  and  think  him  Bass  until  he  is  fairly  brought  to  view. 

"  When  you  have  caught  him,  lot  any  one  who  will  accept  him 
have  him ;  and  take  to  thyself  no  merit  for  tho  gift.  His  meat  is 
more  like  leather  than  fish  or  flesh.  It  is  a  common  saying,  that  the 
more  you  cook  him  tho  tougher  ho  becomes ;  and  I  am  not  aware  that 
ha  is  ever  eat«»n  raw.  But,  some  people  do  eat  him,  and  profess  to 
like  him ;  they  must  have  stupendous  powers  of  mastication  and  diges- 
tion. I  have  been  told  that,  roasted  whole  in  the  ashes,  just  as  he 
comes  from  tho  water,  he  is  savory  and  tender — $ed  credat  JudftUi ! 
I  once  did  eat  him,  prepared  as  follows : — he  was  split  through  the 
back,  put  upon  the  gridiron,  there  grilled  enough  to  cook  a  side  of 
pork  ;  his  flesh  was  removed  from  the  skin,  boned,  chopped  up  into 
dice,  probably  with  a  cleaver,  and  stewed  with  milk,  butter,  pepper 
and  salt.  1  must  say  that,  though  it  was  moat  of  great  tenacity,  and 
might  well  bo  likened  unto  India->rubbor  **,  had  much  sweotness  " 


i;^?*fe^: 


308 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


EEL  FISHING  AND  TRIMMERS. 


With  regard  to  the  Eel,  if  I  consulted  my  own  tastes  only,  I  sliould 
remain  in  utter  silence,  holding  them  totally  below  the  contempt  of 
the  angler,  although  en  matdottey  or  a  la  tartare^  on  the  table  they 
certainly  are  not  despicable ;  there  are,  however,  those  who  probably 
think  oth'irwise,  and  who  would  regard  it  as  an  omission,  perhaps  a 
slight,  if  I  were  to  pass  over  their  favorite  wriggling  reptile.  I  there- 
fore quote  from  Hofland's  British  Angler  the  following,  which  com- 
prises all  that  can  be  said  on  the  subject,  and  is  no  less  applicable  to 
the  Eel  of  America,  than  to  that  of  Great  Britain :  " 

"  To  angle  for  Eels,  use  a  strong  gut  line,  with  a  light  float,  and 
No.  9  hook,  and  bait  with  a  large  red  worm  ;  or  use  a  No.  6  hook, 
and  bait  with  a  marsh-worm,  and  let  your  bait  touch  the  bottom ;  but 
the  most  alluring  bait  I  know  of  for  an  Eel  is,  Salmon-roe  ;  and  when 
fishing  for  Trout  with  this  bait,  the  angler  will  frequently  take  Eels, 
much  to  his  annoyance,  if,  like  myself,  he  detests  their  dirty  slime, 
and  serpent-like  writhings.  I  shall  say  nothing  of  bobbing  for  Eels, 
or  of  sniggling,  as  they  are  practices  below  the  angler ;  but  as  the 
largest  Eels  are  caught  by  night-lines,  and  this  method  is  a  necessary 
resort  for  the  supply  of  the  table,  I  shall  give  the  instructions  of 
Daniel  on  this  point. 

"*It  is  of  little  consequence  where  they — i.  e,  night-lines — are 
laid,  as  they  will  succeed  in  streams,  when  the  Eels  are  in  search  of 
food,  as  well  as  in  the  still,  deep  holes  of  rivers ;  and  they  will  take 
frogs,  black  snails,  worms.  Roach,  Dace,  Gudgeons,  Minnows — which 
two  last  are  the  best — Loaches,  Bleaks,  and  Millers'  thumbs  ;'  a  suffi- 
cient quantity  of  links,  of  twelve  hairs,  should  be  doubled — or  use 
twisted  gut,  and  a  hook  tied  to  each  link  ;  these  are  to  be  noosed,  at 
proper  distances,  to  a  piece  of  cord  fifteen  feet  long  ;  bait  the  hooks 
by  making  an  incision  with  the  baiting-needle  under  the  shoulder,  and 
thrusting  it  out  at  the  middle  of  the  tail,  drawing  the  link  after  it ;  the 


£EL    FISHING    AND    TRIMLIERS. 


SOS 


point  of  the  hook  should  be  upright  towards  the  back  of  the  bait- 
Gsh ;  fasten  one  end  to  the  bank,  ov  a  stub,  and  cast  the  other  into 
the  water,  but  not  to  the  extent  of  the  line,  as  Eels  will  run  a  little 
before  tlze  gorge  ;  the  lines  should  be  taken  up  early  in  the  morning  ; 
such  of  the  lines  as  have  Eels  at  them  will  be  drawn  very  tight. 
Dark  nights  in  July,  August,  and  September,  are  the  best  for  this 
kind  of  fishing. ' 

"  Hooks  proper  for  this  method  of  taking  Eels  may  be  purchased, 
either  double  or  single,  and  are  called  Eel-hooks.  When  a  double 
hook  is  used,  I  should  say  the  following  mode  of  baiting  is  better 
than  Mr.  Daniel's.  Without  a  baiting-needle,  enter  the  point  at  the 
fish's  mouth,  and  bring  it  out  at  the  tail,  letting  the  two  hooks  lie 
close  to  the  mouth  of  the  bait,  as  described  in  baiting  the  gorge-hook 
for  trolling. 

"  Trimmers,  baited  with  a  live  Gudgeon,  are  sure  to  be  taken  by 
Eels.  The  wire  to  which  hooks  are  fixed  should  be  strong  and  well 
tempered,  as  the  Eel  struggles  hard  to  free  himself.  Very  large  Eels 
are  caught  in  the  lakes  of  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland,  by  trim- 
mers, baited  with  small  Trout  or  Pearch — there  called  Bass — with 
the  back  fin  cut  off.  On  Derwentwater — Keswick  lake — it  is  a  com- 
mon practice  for  parties  to  engage  a  fisherman,  who  provides  twenty 
or  thirty  trimmers  ;  the  tops  being  painted  bright  red  and  white,  that 
they  may  be  seen  at  a  distance.  The  party  should  be  in  the  boat  by 
four  o'clock,  A.  M.,  at  the  latest;  the  fisherman  then  baits  the  trim- 
mers with  live  Bass,  small  Trout,  or  Minnows,  and  places  them  at 
equal  distances  across  the  lake,  spreading  to  the  extent  of  from  half 
to  three-quarters  of  a  mile  ;  and  if  there  are  two  or  three  boats 
belonging  to  the  party,  and  the  Pike  and  Eels  are  on  the  feed,  the 
great  diversion  is  to  see  the  trimmers  carried  off  by  fish,  in  different 
directions  at  the  same  time,  when  all  becomes  animation  and  exertion 
in  the  diC "ent  boats ;  all  rowing  towards  the  trimmers,  and  eager  to 
seize  on  their  prey ;  and  very  large  Pike  and  Eels  are  often  caught 
in  this  manner." 


310 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


SHOAL-WATER  SEA  FISHING. 


■'I 


This  sport,  which  is  pursued  with  great  eagerness  by  many  of  our 
city  anglers,  has  for  its  scene  the  various  channels,  bays,  shoals,  reefs 
and  mud-flats  of  our  harbors,  the  great  land-locked  lagoons  along  our 
coasts,  and  many  places  in  the  East  river,  and  Long  Island,  as  well  as 
in  the  estuaries  of  all  the  larger  rivers  from  the  capes  of  the  Chesa- 
peake to  Massachusetts  Bay. 

It  is  pursued  in  boats,  which  are  rowed  from  spot  to  spot,  and 
anchored  over  the  various  reefs  and  shoals,  or  in  the  vicinity  of  sunken 
reefs,  about  which  these  fish  are  supposed  to  abound,  according  to  the 
state  and  variation  of  the  tides.  The  fish  usually  taken  are  the  Sque- 
teague  or  Weak-Fish,  the  Barb,  or  King-Fish,  the  Tautog  or  Black- 
Fish,  the  Striped  Bass,  the  Sea  Bass  occasionally,  the  Sheep's-Head, 
the  Big  Poi'gee,  and  sometimes  the  Drum. 

For  the  Sea  Bass,  however,  and  the  Porgee,  longer  excursions  are 
generally  necessary,  as  the  best  fishing  for  these  is  on  the  outer  sea- 
banks,  in  the  Atlantic,  whither  steamers  and  sloops  occasionally  pro- 
ceed with  companies  for  a  day's  amusement.  In  these,  however,  there 
is  most  frequently  more  fun  than  fishing,  although  sometimes  very 
good  sport  is  had,  and  greater  quantities  of  fish  taken. 

For  Sheep's-Head,  again,  boats  are  generally  fitted  out  expressly,  as 
this  large  powerful  fish  and  heavy  biter  requires  stronger  tackle  than 
is  needed  in  the  capture  of  any  of  the  other  species. 

The  ordinary  booty,  therefore,  of  the  shoal-water  sea  angler,  is  con- 
fined, nine  times  out  of  ten,  to  the  Weak-Fish,  the  King-Fish,  the  Stri- 
ped Bass,  and  sometimes  the  Black-Fish,  although  this  latter  differs 
somewhat  from  the  others  in  his  accustomed  haunts ;  and  for  these, 
all  of  which  may  be  taken  with  the  same  tackle,  and  nearly  with  the 
same  baits,  he  constantly  goes  prepared. 

The  best  localities  for  this  sport  are  so  numerous,  and  so  well  known 


8M0AL-WATER   SEA    FISHINC 


311 


to  tlio  guides  and  professional  fishermon  of  cvory  neighborhood,  that  it 
is  needless  to  enter  into  a  particular  narrative  of  their  whereabouts, 
since  it  is  very  little  likely  that  a  stranger  would  attempt  to  find  thera 
unassisted  by  a  guide,  and  to  the  practised  and  experienced  angler  of 
each  region,  they  are  of  course  well  known. 


312 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


THE  WEAK-FISH. 


The  Weak-Fish  is  a  very  abundant  species  in  the  vicinity  of  New 
York,  and  is  angled  for  with  much  success  in  ahnost  all  parts  of  the 
inner  bay.  The  name  is  said  to  be  derived  from  the  weak  mouth  of 
the  fish,  which  is  so  soft  that  it  very  frequently  is  torn  by  the  hook, 
and  so  allows  the  fish  to  escape.  It  pulls  fairly  upon  the  hook,  and 
when  struck  of  a  considerable  size,  gives  considerable  play  to  the 
angler  before  he  can  be  secured. 

Many  persons  fish  for  this  species,  and  the  others  which  haunt  the 
same  grounds,  with  the  drop-line,  but  this  is  a  poor  and  unexciting 
sport,  as  compared  with  the  use  of  the  rod  and  reel. 

The  best  rod  is  a  moderately  stiflF  general  fishing-rod,  with  a  reel, 
and  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  flax  or  hemp 
line ;  a  No.  1  Kirby  hook  will  probably  be  found,  on  the  whole,  the 
most  successful ;  and  the  most  killing  baits  are  shrimp,  shedder-crabs, 
or  clams.  The  Weak-Fish  occasionally  runs  up  to  c*»ht  or  nine  lbs. 
weight,  but  the  general  average  does  not  probably  exceed  two.  When 
quite  fresh  out  of  the  water,  the  Squeteague  is  a  very  tolerable  fish 
not  a  little  resembling  the  Trout  in  flavor,  but  it  very  soon  becomes 
soft  and  flaccid.  It  is  by  no  means  so  game  or  so  good  a  fish,  when 
taken,  as  the  Striped  Bass  or  the  King-Fish,  yet  it  is  not  without  many 
votaries  who  pursue  it  with  ardor. 

Immediately  around  the  Battery,  and  even  from  the  Castle  Garden 
bridge,  good  sport  is  frequently  had  with  this  fish,  as  also  on  the  flats 
off  Communipaw,  in  Buttermilk  Channel,  off  the  Owl's-Head,  as  well 
as  at  Bergen  Point,  Elizabethtown  Point,  and  many  other  places,  both 
in  the  Kills,  and  in  Newark  Bay.  It  is  said  that  ttc  afternoon  tides 
are  the  most  favorable  for  taking  the  Squeteague,  until  a  short  time 
before  sun-set,  but  that  so  soon  as  the  peculiar  drumming  or  croaking 
sound,  which  is  ascribed  to  this  fish,  is  heard,  it  is  useless  to  fish 
longer,  as  he  then  ceases  to  bite. 


THE    BARB,    OR    KINO-FISH. 


3)3 


.   :) 


THE    BARB,   OR   KING-FISH. 


This  is,  in  all  respects,  a  better  and  finer  fish,  both  for  the  captor 
or  the  epicure,  than  the  last. 

He  is  with  us,  at  New  York,  a  summer  fish  of  passage,  and  is,  it  is 
much  to  be  lamented,  becoming  yearly  more  and  more  rare. 

In  Mr.  Brown's  American  Angler's  Guide,  vt  is  stated  that,  "  As  a 
game  fish,  he  is  considered  as  giving  more  reai  sport  than  the  Trout, 
Bass,  or  Salmon.  His  name  and  whereabouts  hai;  only  to  be  whispered 
to  the  New  York  angler,  and  he  is  off  after  sport  that  he  has  perhaps 
anticipated  for  years." 

Now,  to  this  I  must  record  my  positive  dissent ;  for,  though  it  may 
be,  and  is,  very  true  that  tho  King-Fish  is  a  great  favorite  with  the 
New  York  angler,  that  he  is  a  gamo  fish,  biting  briskly  in  those  sea- 
sons when  he  is  found  abunanntly  in  rhese  waters,  and  offering  resist- 
ance both  longer  and  stronger  than  any  other  small  salt-water  fish — 
still  no  one — except  those  joMy  old  codgers  who  consider  patience 
demonstrated  by  sitting  still  m.an  anchored  boat,  and  comfort  evi- 
denced by  the  consolation  of  the  inner-man  with  beef  sandwiches  and 
cold  brandy-and-wator — ^would  droara  of  considering  it  better  sport  to 
sit  for  hours,  between  Black  Tom  and  tho  .Jersey  shore,  with  no  hope 
save  that  of  hooking  a  little  fish,  which  rarely  exceeds  two  pounds  in 
weight,  with  a  bottom  bait  and  strong  ground  tackle,  than  to  hook  s, 
twenty-pound  Salmon  with  a  fly  on  the  surface,  and  to  play  him  for 
.\n  hour  before  he  can  be  gaffed. 

The  one  sport  requires  luck  and  patience — the  other  skill,  hardi- 
hood, endurance,  couragi^,  long  experience,  quick  eye,  stout  heart, 
fleet  foot,  and  ready  liand.  How,  then,  shall  these  sports  be  com- 
pared r 

I  do  not  desire,  however,  to  discredit  the  King-Fish  ;  nor  does  he 
21 


314 


AMERICAN    FI&HE8. 


in  anywise  deserve  it,  as,  both  for  durante  vita  and  post-mortem  ex 
cellcnce,  he  deserves  all  honor. 

He  is  to  be  caught  most  easily  with  the  rod  and  tackle  before  de- 
scribed, under  the  head  of  the  Squeteaquo,  or  Weak-Fish,  except  that 
a  smaller  hook  should  be  used,  the  mouth  of  the  King-Fish  bein^ 
small.     The  best  bait  is  the  shedder-crab.       ,•  H     '■' 

In  a  former  portion  of  this  work,  devoted  to  the  consideration  of 
the  natural  history  of  fishes,  I  have  quoted  an  anecdote,  published  in 
tlie  New  York  Commercial  Advertiser,  of  July  6, 1827,  recording  the 
capture  of  four  hiivdred  and  twenty-two  King-P^ish,  by  a  boy  and  a 
man,  in  the  space  of  six  hours,  in  Jamaica  bay,  ofiF  Rockaway ;  and  I 
find  it  stated  in  the  American  Angler's  Guide,  that  twenty  or  thirty 
are  often  taken  in  a  single  tide. 

The  first  feat  is  unsurpassed,  and  probably  never  will  be  equalled  ; 
the  second  is  of  most  rare  occurrence,  so  much  so  that  now-a-days  the 
angler  justly  holds  himself  favored  by  the  marine  deities,  who  kills  his 
half-dozen  King-Fish  in  a  day. 

All  this,  however,  may  be  changed  at  any  moment;  for  the  comings 
and  goings  of  all  migratory  animals  are  more  or  less — and  those  of 
migratory  fishes,  most — irregular. 

Their  visits  are  like  those  of  angels,  few  and  far  between.  The 
King-Fish,  the  Lafayette,  the  Blue-Fish,  nay,  even  those  scaly  cus- 
tomers, the  Prawn  and  the  Lobster,  will  swarm  this  year,  disappear 
entirely  the  next,  and  after  an  absence,  longer,  perhaps,  than  Jacob's 
double  courtship,  will  again  gladden  the  hearts  of  their  lovers  by  re- 
turning ill  numbers  innumerable. 

In  New  York  harbor,  the  flats  from  Bergen  Point  to  Jersey  City, 
within  the  fortified  islands,  and  the  big  rock  called  Black  Tom,  and 
opposite  Communipa^', ,  ,re  cLe  best  waters  for  the  King-Fish.  But 
in  the  Passaic  bay,  vrnd  off  Elizabet!)<  wn  Point,  and  also  in  the 
lagoons  of  Long  Island,  they  are  taken  often  in  great  numbers. 

May  they  soon  return  to  us  as  thickly  as  of  yore,  and  remain  au 


long  as  it  suiteth  them. 


They  shall  be  welcome. 


jT 


THE    SEA    BASS. 


315 


V": 


THE   SEA   BASS. 


The  Sea  Bass  is  another  gentleman  among  hia  finny  comrades,  and 
he  is  sometimes  taken  by  the  rod-fisher  while  angling  for  the  Sque- 
teaque,  or  King-Fish.  He  is,  however,  difficult  so  to  kill,  and  is  com- 
paratively rare  in  the  inner  waters. 

On  the  sea  banks  without  Sandy  Hook,  in  the  lower  bay,  and  in  the 
Sound,  he  is  very  abundant,  and  affords  great  sport  to  those  who  are 
satisfied  with  quick  biting  and  continual  hauling  in. 

Both  for  the  Bass  and  the  3ig  Porgee,  stout  hempen  or  flaxen  drop- 
lines  are  the  most  successful,  varying  from  ten  to  twenty-five  fathoms 
in  length,  fitted  with  a  single  sinker  of  a  pound  weight,  and  three  or 
four  hooks  on  seniarate  snoods,  eighteen  inches  asunder,  of  various 
sizes,  for  various  species  of  fish. 

For  Porgees,  the  No.  3,  round  Black-Fish-hook,  is  preferred  ;  for 
Sea  Bass,  No.  1  or  2,  Kirby.  The  only  bait  is  the  clam,  and  it  is 
desirable  to  salt  him  for  a  day,  which,  hardening  the  flesh,  renders  it 
more  difficult  for  the  fish  to  abstract  him.  '^i  ii    i  ^  .•       i-  : 

No  skill  is  required  for  this  mode  of  fishing,  except  that  of  keeping 
one's  wits  about  him,  striking  very  sharply  the  instant  he  feels  a  bite, 
and  hauling  in  rapidly  with  a  taut  line ;  for,  if  a  slack  occurs,  the  fish 
will  often  disengage  themselves. 

Many  people  are  very  fond  of  this  sport,  but  I  hold  it,  after  all,  but 
heavy  work,  not  the  less  so  for  being  considerably  laborioas,  and  for 
the  fact  that  hauling  in  the  small,  cutting  line,  hand  over  hand,  and 
the  salt-water,  are  apt  to  make  the  fingers  exceeding  sore,  if  gloveless  ; 
and  to  use  gloves  in  angling,  would  be  something  like  donning  the 
upper  Benjamin  with  fox-hounds.    ■  -  ,        * 


316 


AMERICAN  FISHES. 


THE  TATJTOG,  OR  BLACK-FISH. 


Of  him  Dr.  Mitchil,  not  unsagely,  nor  unpleasantly,  discourseth 
after  this  fashion.  The  facts  of  natural  history,  as  herein  recorded, 
are  worthy  of  all  confidence  ;  nor  arc  the  maxims  worthless  to  the 
angler : 

"  The  Black-Fish  abounds  in  the  vicinity  of  Long  Island,  and  is  a 
stationary  inhabitant  of  the  salt-water.  He  never  visits  the  rivers, 
like  Salmon  or  Sturgeon  ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  deserts  his  dwelling- 
place  as  they  do.  He  is  fond  of  rocks,  reefs  and  rough  bottoms.  He 
is  taken  through  the  whole  course  of  Long  Island  Sound,  Fisher's 
Island  Sound,  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Rhode  Island.  The  Tautog 
was  not  originally  known  in  Massachusetts  Bay  ^  but  within  a  few 
years  he  has  been  carried  beyond  Cape  Cod,  and  has  multiplied  so 
abundantly,  that  the  Boston  market  has  now  a  full  supply,  without 
the  necessity  of  importing  from  Newport  and  Providence.  The  Black- 
Fish,  however,  does  not  confine  himself  to  rough  bottoms  ;  for  he  is 
also  caught  in  the  southern  bays  of  Long  Island,  and  on  the  banks  of 
the  ocean  off  Sandy  Hook.  He  is  considered,  by  the  New  Yorkers, 
as  a  very  fine  fish  for  the  table.  He  grows  to  the  weight  of  ten  or 
twelve  pounds,  and  even  more ;  but  it  is  a  fish  of  a  good  size,  that 
equals  two  or  three. 

"  He  may  be  kept  for  a  long  time  in  ponds  or  cars  ;  and  fed,  and 
even  fatted  there.  When  the  cold  of  winter  benumbs  him,  he  refuses 
to  eat  any  more,  and  a  membrane  is  observed  to  form  over  the  vent, 
and  close  it.  He  begins  to  regain  appetite  with  the  return  of  warmth 
in  the  spring.  The  blossoming  of  the  dogwood,  cornus  Jlorida,  early 
in  April,  is  understood  to  denote  the  time  of  baiting  Black-Fish.  As 
soon  as  these  flowers  unfold,  the  fishermen  proceed  with  their  hooks 
and  lines  to  the  favorite  places.  If  there  is  no  dogwood,  a  judgment 
is  derived  from  the  vegetation  of  the  chestnut  tree  castanca  vcsca.  The 


THE  TAUTOO,  OR  BLACK-FISH. 


317 


season  of  baiting  is  reckoned  very  favorable  until  the  increasing 
warmth  of  the  Reason  brings  food  enough  to  fill  their  stomachs,  and 
they  thereupon  afford  less  pastime  to  the  sportsman,  and  less  profit 
to  the  professor.  The  people  express  this  scntiiaent  in  these  ooarM 
rhymes : 

^  " '  When  chestnut  leaves  are  as  big  as  thumb  nail, 

Then  bite  Black-Fish  without  fail ; 
But  when  chestnut  leaveo  are  as  long  as  a  span, 
Then  catch  Black-Fish  if  you  CF 11.' " 


"  The  common  bait  for  Black-Fish  is  the  l  >ft  clam,  nya.  The 
soldier  crab,  or  fiddler,  ocypoda,  will  frequently  tempt  him  when  he 
refuses  to  taste  the  other.  And  he  snaps  very  readily  at  the  large 
finny  worm  of  the  salt-water  beaches,  nereis^  when  used  on  a  hook 
for  him.  .  " 

"  Some  persons,  who  live  contiguous  to  the  shores  where  are  sit- 
uated the  rocks  frequented  by  Tautog,  invite  the  fish  there  by  baiting. 
By  this  is  meant  the  throwing  overboard  broken  clams  or  crabs,  to 
induce  the  Black  Fish  to  renew  their  visits,  and  fine  sport  is  pro- 
cured. 

"  Rocky  shores  and  bottoms  are  the  haunts  of  Black-Fish.  Long 
experience  Is  required  to  find  all  these  places  of  resort.  Nice  obser- 
vations on  the  landmarks,  in  different  directions,  are  requisite  to 
enable  a  fishing  party  to  anchor  on  the  proper  spot.  When,  for 
example,  a  certain  rock  and  tree  range  one  way,  with  a  barn  window 
appearing  over  a  headland  the  other  way,  the  boat  being  at  the  point 
where  two  such  lines  intersect  each  other,  is  exactly  over  some  famous 
rendezvous.  To  insure  success  on  such  expectation,  it  is  proper  to 
have  a  pilot  along,  well  versed  in  all  the  local  and  minute  knowledge 
According  to  the  number  and  distance  of  the  rocks  and  reefs  visited, 
will  be  the  time  consumed,  from  the  duration  of  a  few  hours  to  a  long 
summer's  day.  An  opinion  prevails,  that  the  Black-Fish  can  hear 
very  well ;  and,  for  fear  of  scaring  them  away,  the  greatest  stillness  is 
observed.  He  is  a  strong  fish,  and  pulls  well  for  one  of  his  weight 
and  size. 

"  At  some  places  Black-Fish  bite  best  upon  the  flood :  in  others, 
they  are  voracious  during  the  ebb.     Thunder  accompanying  a  shower 


318 


AMERICAN    FISHES 


h 


U  an  indication  that  no  more  of  them  can  be  caught.  The  appcarancfl 
of  a  porpoise  infallibly  puts  an  end  to  sport.  Curious  alorics  are  told 
of  fiiih  in  the  wells  and  ponds,  floating  in  their  native  elemtjit.  having 
been  found  dead,  after  sharp  and  repeated  flashes  of  lightning.  Dull 
weather,  with  an  easterly  wind,  is  generally  the  omen  of  ill  luck. 
The  exploits  pcrl>  .rmcd  in  fishing  for  Tautog,  are  recounted  occasion- 
ally, with  remarkable  glee  ;  and  they  afi'ord  a  never-failin;^  theme  of 
entertainment  to  those  who  are  engaged  in  that  sort  of  adventure. 
Though  the  hand  line  is  generally  used,  the  rod  is  sometimes  employ- 
ed to  great  advantage.  The  Black-Fish  is  remarkable  for  retaining 
life  a  long  time  after  he  is  taken  out  of  water.  He  sometimes  swims 
over  even  ground,  and  is  caught  in  seans."  *  =  '  "^  '  "■ 

A  stout  trolling  rod,  with  a  strong  flaxen  line,  and  a  reel,  are  the 
best  implements.  The  hooks  should  be  those  known  universally  as 
the  Black-Fish  hook,  of  various  sizus,  according  to  the  angler's  taste, 
ranging  from  three  to  ten.  These  should  be  armed — two  being  used, 
which  is  tlie  proper  number — on  hook  links  of  trcbiy-twiatcd  gut,  re- 
spectively, of  twelve  and  fifteen  inches,  which  links  should  be  securely 
fastened  to  a  small  brass  ring.  This  ring  is  to  be  looped  to  the  end 
of  the  line  to  which  ihe  sinker  is  appended. 

This  is  ♦.he  best  arrungement  of  the  'noks  for  all  salt-water  shoal 
bait  fishing.  »  '  •  '" 

The  Black-Fish  is  entirely  a  bottom  fish,  and  is  caught  everywhere 
within  his  geographical  range,  in  whirls  and  eddies,  in  the  close  vici- 
nity of  rocks  and  reefs. 

Robin's  reef,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Kills,  is  a  favorite  feeding- 
ground  ;  and  some  years  since  I  had  rare  sport  daily  for  many  weeks, 
about  the  hull  of  the  wrecked  packet  ship  Henri  Quatre,  below  the 
Narrows. 

The  rocks  off  the  well-known  watering  house,  the  Sachem's  Head, 
on  the  Sound,  and  many  other  rocks  in  the  bays  and  Sound  of  Long 
Island,  are  of  equal  reputation.  .      ^ 

He  must  be  struck  sharply,  and  pulled  up  without  a  moment's 
quarter. 

He  is  better  in  the  pan  than  on  the  hook,  and  better  on  the  table 
than  in  the  pan.     How  you  may  cook  him  you  shall  learn  hereafter. 


THE    sheep's-head. 


319 


THE  SHEEP'S-HEAD. 


,er. 


This  capital  fish,  which  holds  tlu;  same  repute  in  America  which 
is  held  by  the  Turbot  in  Kurop  'jometimes  hook'  J  by  the  rod-fisher 
while  angling  for  the  Barb,  S(£u  le,  or  Striped  Bass ;  but  when 

this  occurs,  he  generally  beats  ..      icueat  successfully,  currying  off 
with  hiiu  bait,  bottom-lino  and  hooks  together^ 

Still  he  is  sometimes  mastered  by  delicate  skill  and  judicious  ad- 
ministration of  the  reel,  but  then  only  by  the  .stoutest  tacklo,  manipula- 
ted by  the  best  of  fishermen.  Drop-lines  of  .strong  hempen  cord, 
or  the  ordinary  Cod-line  two  hundred  yards  long,  with  a  heavy 
sinker,  and  a  large  stout  Black-Fish  hook,  will,  however,  pretty  cer- 
tainly bring  him  home. 

He  frequents  the  vicinity  of  rocks,  and  loves  to  Ibito  at  the  small 
rock-crab,  and  the  soft-shelled  clam. 

The  best  way  is  to  bait  with  the  clam  whole  and  unbroken,  burying 
the  whole  hook  nearly  to  the  arming  in  the  neck  of  the  clam.  By 
doing  this,  the  incessant  and  vexatious  nibbling  of  the  small  fish  i^j 
avoided ;  and  the  shell  of  the  clam  is  a  mere  nothing  to  the  great 
paved  round  teeth,  which  line  the  palate  of  this  strong,  voracious  fish. 

Where  small  fish  are  not  frequent,  the  clams  may  be  put  on  open, 
with  success. 

The  Sheep's-Head  is  becoming  scarce  in  the  harbor  of  New  York, 
and  those  brought  into  the  city  come  mostly  from  tho  south  bays  of 
Long  Island. 

No  fish  is  better  on  the  table,  or  more  valued. 

He  is  the  highest  prize  of  the  salt-water  angler,  and  the  idol  of  the 
epicure's  adoration. 

Let  him  enjoy  his  reputation,  he  deserves  it ;  perhaps  the  know- 
ledge of  his  posthumous  honors  may  be  a  consolation  to  him  in  his 
death-pang. 


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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
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PhotDgraphic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  USSO 

(716)8714503 


asM 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


THE  DRUM. 


Neither  to  catch  nor  to  cook  the  Drum,  will  I  teach  you,  gentle 
reader  mine,  for  he  is  not  worth  the  hook  which  he  will  prohably  carry 
away,  if  you  strike  him,"  nor  the  salt  which  you  might  waste  in  season- 
ing him. 

Unless  in  his  vast  size  and  great  power,  he  has  no  merit,  and  in 
these  he  is  surpassed  by  the  Shark,  the  Porpoise,  and  the  Whale,  for 
which  I  should  about  as  soon  think  of  angling. 


■.-^-  \ 


BLUE-FISH  FISHING. 


A.  general  favorite  from  his  southern  to  his  extreme  northern 
limit,  this  great  Mackerel  is  every  where  an  object  of  pursuit,  and 
deserves  to  be  so,  both  for  the  fun  of  taking  and  the  pleasure  of  eating 
him.  When  fresh  from  the  water  he  is  superlative.  A  very  bold  and 
daring  biter,  he  is  caught  in  great  numbers  in  swift  tide-ways,  eddies 
and  inlet  mouths.  In  the  Sound,  in  the  Long  Island  South  Bay  chan- 
nels, in  the  inlets  of  the  Jersey  beaches,  from  June  to  August,  he 
affords  rare  sport. 

Sail  for  him  in  a  large  cat-rigged  boat,  and  the  fresher  the  breeze, 
and  the  brisker  the  sea,  the  better.  In  large  schuUs  he  swims  i3°ar 
the  surface,  leaping  at  every  living  thing  which  crosses  his  track  of 
devastation. 

When  you  have  the  luck  to  strike  a  schull,  stick  to  it  perseveringly, 


f 


BLUE-FISH    ri8HI270. 


mi 


crossing  it  tack  and  tack,  as  fast  as  you  can  go  about  in  the  direction 
of  its  course ;  and  if  the  gods  of  the  deep  look  with  benignance  on 
your  labors,  you  shall  kill  a  hundred  at  the  least,  in  a  tide. 

Thus  fish  for  him :  To  a  stout  cotton  line  of  a  hundred  yards,  affix 
a  squid  of  bright  tin,  or  bone,armed  with  a  good-sized  Kirby  hook, 
with  a  strong  gimp  hook-link.  Make  fast  the  end  of  your  line  to  a 
cleet  in  the  stern  of  the  boat,  then  whirl  out  the  squid  to  the  whole 
length  of  your  line,  and  play  it  with  both  hands  alternately.  The  fish 
will  strike  itself,  and  is  to  be  hauled  in  with  a  regular  eten  pull,  never 
jerked,  nor  yet  slacked  for  an  instant,  for  if  it  be,  the  fish  will  dis- 
engage himself  almost  certainly. 

When  you  tack  your  boat,  if  the  water  be  shoal,  haul  in  your  line, 
else  shall  you  foul  it  in  the  sea-weeds. 

When  you  have  hooked  your  fish,  raise  your  squid  with  the  hook 
uppermost,  and  a  slight  shake  shall  cast  him  into  the  bottom  of  the 
boat. 

Babylon,  Islip,  and  Quogue,  on  Long  Island,  in  Fire  Island  inlet, 
and  Pine  inlet,  Shrewsbury,  Squam-Beach,  and  Barnegat,  in  New  Jer- 
sey, the  estuaries  of  the  rivers  in  Connecticut,  and  the  tide-ways  in 
Boston  harbor,  are  all  favorite  grounds  for  Blue-Fishing. 

To  conclude :  there  is  no  pleasanter  summer  day's  amusement  than 
a  merry  cruise  after  the  Blue-Fish,  no  pleasanter  close  to  it  than  the 
clam-bake,  the  chowder,  and  the  broiled  Blue-Fish,  lubricated  with 
champagne,  learnedly  frappee,  and  temperately  taken,  no  unpleasant 
medicine.  What  adds  most  to  the  zest  of  such  a  day,  is  the  presence 
of  the  charming  sex,  this  being  one  of  the  few  sports  of  field  or  flood 
in  which  they  can  femininely,  and  therefore  fittingly,  participate.  For 
the  rest,  you  may  take  Blue-Fish,  say  the  philosophers,  of  thirty  pounds 
weight,  though  I  doubt  it.  Of  four  and  five  pounds  you  shall  catch 
him  surely  ;  if  of  eight,  rejoice ;  if  of  ten,  sing  pooans, — for  that  is  a 
triumph. 


't  ? 


S2'2 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


DEEP  SEA  FISHING. 


The  Cod,  the  Haddock,  the  Whiting,  the  Hake,  the  Halibut,  and 
the  Flounder,  may  be  caught  every  where  north  of  Massachusetts ;  and 
from  Boston  to  the  eastward,  parties  of  pleasure  are  made  constantly 
to  take  them.  On  the  Great  Banks  they  are  most  abundant,  but  in 
Boston  Bay  great  sport  is  not  uncommon,  nor  is  it  unusual  for  a  single 
boat  to  bring  in  its  fifteen  or  twenty  quintals  of  these  fine  fish. 

The  whole  sport  consists  in  the  frequency  of  the  biting,  and  the 
size  of  the  fish,  which,  for  the  most  part,  varies  from  ten  to  fifteen 
pounds  ;  for  though  they  are  sharp  and  voracious  biters,  they  require 
no  play  when  hooked,  offering  only  an  inert  resistance,  and  a  dead 
heavy  pull. 

Fifty  yards  of  stout  hempen  line,  two  small-sized  Cod-hooks,  baited 
^ith  the  mud-clam,  the  menhaden,  or  where  it  can  be  procured,  the 
capelin,  and  a  pound  sinker,  is  all  your  apparatus. 

With  this,  in  any  eastern  water,  you  may  rest  assured  of  returning 
home  with  a  boat-load  of  fish,  a  set  of  very  weary  limbs,  a  pair  of  very 
sore  hands,  and  an  enormous  appetite,  of  which,  mejudice^  the  first  and 
the  last  alone  are  desirable. 

If  you  be  content  with  these,  fair  or  gentle  reader,  go  out  for  deep- 
sea  fishing  when  and  where  you  will,  provided  you  ask  me  to  follow 
you  no  farther ;  for  here,  once  more  we  must  part.  Ere  long,  if  the 
fates — and  the  booksellers — be  propitious,  I  trust,  to  meet  again,  with 
undiminished  satisfaction,  each  of  us  with  the  other. 

And  so  fare  ye  well,  who  have  accompanied  me  so  far  on  my  ram- 
bling way;  may  all  your  pleasures,  as  you  would  have  them,  be  both 
long  and  lasting ;  and  all  your  pains,  as  ye  must  have  them,  being 
mortal  men,  brief  and  transitory ;  and  so  may  fair  fortunes  be  about 
ye.  and  kind  thoughts  toward  Frank  Forester.    ^ 


/■ 


APPENDlA. 


/■ 


APPENDIX.-(A.) 


IHE  ANGLER'S  APPARATUS, 


Fh>m  Hofland't  BritUh  Angler's  Mannal. 


/ 


It  is  impossible  to  become  a  successful  angler,  without  such  u  com- 
plete and  well-arranged  assortment  of  tackle  as  will  enable  you  to  be 
prepared  for  all  times,  seasons,  and  circumstances  ;  and  a  true  brother 
of  the  craft  will  find  much  to  amuse  him  in  the  exercise  of  his  inge- 
nuity in  making  and  repairing  lines,  flies,  &c.,  and  in  the  orderly 
disposition  of  the  materials  of  hi»  art — of  which  the  following  is  a 
list: 

Rods  for  Salmon-fishing,  trolling,  spinning  the  minnow  and  bleak, 
fly-fishing,  and  angling  at  the  bottom. 

Jiines  of  hau:,  silkworm  gut,  Indian  weed,  plaited  silk  and  hair,  and 
patent  lino  for  trolling. 

Winches  or  reels  for  running-tackle. 

Hooks  for  trolling,  on  wire  or  gimp,  for  the  gorge,  the  snap,  &o. 

Bleak  and  minnow  tackle,  and  baiting  needles,  of  various  sizes. 

Hooks  tied  on  gut,  from  No.  4  to  No.  12. 

Hooks  tied  on  hair,  from  No.  10  to  No.  13.  ,.  v 

Loose  hooks  of  all  sizes.  ^     j^^     '-    t1 

Paternosters  for  Pearch-fishing.  ,:  ;,/  vf  ; -. .    ,,;       >   *. 

Shoemakers'  wax  and  sewing-silk.  ■%,,/. 

Floats  of  various  sizes,  and  caps  for  floats. 

Split  shot  and  plummets  for  taking  the  depth  of  the  water. 

Disgorger,  clearing  ring,  and  drag. 

Landing-net,  gaff,  and  kettle  for  live  bait. 

Gentle-box,  and  bags  for  worms. 

A  fishing-basket,  creel,  or  game  pouch. 


v1-- 


326 


APPENDIX. — A. 


A  T>air  of  pliers,  a  pair  of  soiflsors,  and  a  penknife. 
A  book  of  artificial  flies. 
A  book  of  general  tackle. 


RODS. 


Choice  rods  are  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  the  angler's  success, 
and  various  instructions  have  been  given  by  different  authors  for 
selecting  pioper  kinds  of  wood  for  the  purpose,  and  the  method  of 
making  them ;  but  as  excellent  rods  of  every  description  are  now  to 
be  purchased  in  almost  every  part  of  the  United  Kingdon,  I  shall 
recommend  such  as  will  be  generally  useful,  and  may  be  procured 
without  difficulty  at  any  of  the  fishing-tackle  shops  in  London. 

In  choosing  a  rod,  be  careful  to  examine  if  the  joints  fit  securely, 
if  it  be  perfectly  straight  when  put  together,  and  if  it  spring  equally 
in  all  its  parts,  from  the  butt  to  the  top,  when  bent.  \ 

That  which  is  commonly  termed  a  "  general  rod "  will  be  found 
most  useful  to  the  traveller  who  has  not  an  opportunity  of  carrying 
more  than  one  with  him  at  a  time,  it  being  so  contrived  that  it  may 
be  used  either  for  fly-fishing,  trolling,  or  bottom  fishing,  as  the  butt 
of  the  rod  is  bored,  and  contains  several  spare  tops,  i.  e.,  one  for  the 
fly,  one  for  spinning  the  Minnow,  one  for  the  float,  and  another  for 
trolling — the  whole  being  conveniently  packed  up  in  a  canvas  bag. 

Although  this  kind  of  rod  will  be  found  highly  serviceable  on  many 
jccasions,  I  would  by  no  means  recommend  the  use  of  it  when  you 
lave  an  opportunity  of  employing  separate  and  appropriate  rods  for 
ihe  different  kinds  of  angling.  The  rods  used  exclusively  for  fly- 
fishing should  be  as  light  as  possible,  consistent  with' strength,  and  if 
for  throwing  with  one  hand,  not  more  than  from  twelve  to  fourteen 
feet  long,  and  if  with  both  hands,  not  more  than  from  sixteen  to 
eighteen  feet.  Indeed,  a  rod  shorter  than  either  of  these  would  be 
found  very  convenient  in  a  narrow,  closely-wooded  stream,  where  it  is 
frequently  necessary  to  force  your  fly  with  a  short  line  under  over- 
hanging bushes 

I  am  acquainted  with  some  excellent  anglers  in  the  north  of  Eng- 
land, who  cannot  be  persuaded  to  use  any  other  fly-rod  than  one 
composed  of  two  pieces  only,  and  spliced  in  the  middle ;  but  this  is 


APPENDIX. A 


327 


inconvenient  to  carry,  and  the  jointed  rods  are  now  brought  to  such 
perfection,  that  I  feel  assured  they  will  answer  every  purpose  of  the 
spliced'  rods,  besides  being  much  more  portable.  The  Irish  fly-rods 
are  screwed  together  at  each  joint,  and  are  much  more  elastic  than 
die  English  rods. 

THE    TROLLING   ROD 

Should  be  very  strong,  and  not  less  than  twelve  nor  more  than  sixteen 
feet  in  length,  with  large  rings  upon  it,  that  the  line  may  run  freely. 

The  rod  for  spinning  a  Minnow  or  Bleak  should  be  of  bamboo  cane, 
and  from  eighteen  to  twenty  feet  long,  with  a  tolerably  stiflF  top  ;  the 
rings  should  be  placed  at  a  moderate  distance  from  each  other,  and 
be  of  the  middle  size. 

The  barbed  rod^  for  angling  with  the  ledger-bait,  should  have  a 
stiff  top,  and  be  about  eleven  or  twelve  feet  in  length ;  but  for  float- 
fishing  it  must  be  much  lighter  and  something  longer. 

The  rod  for  Roach  and  Dace  should  be  of  bamboo  cane,  and,  if  for 
bank-fishing,  from  eighteen  to  twenty  feet  long ;  but  if  for  angling 
from  a  punt,  not  more  than  eleven  or  twelve  feet.  It  must  be  very 
light,  perfectly  taper,  and  of  a  proper  degree  of  elasticity,  as  the 
angler's  success  in  Roach  and  Dace-fishing  will  depend  upon  his 
dexterity  and  quickness  in  striking  when  he  has  a  bite.  Many  anglers 
never  fish  without  running-tackle,  that  they  may  be  always  prepared 
to  encounter  a  large  fish  ;  but  they  must  not  hr  j  e  to  meet  with  the 
same  sport  in  Roach  and  Dace-fishing  as  those  do  v  tio  use  a  light  rod 
without  rings,  and  a  short  line,  when  the  chance  of  striking  your  fish 
is  much  more  certain.  , 

LINES. 


The  host  lines  for  running-tackle  are  composed  of  silk  and  hair,  of 
different  degrees  of  strength  and  thickness,  according  to  the  purpose 
for  which  they  are  intended.  For  Salmon-fishing,  a  strong  winch  or 
pirn,  large  enough  to  contain  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  yards  of 
line,  is  requisite,  and  for  Trout  a  brass  reel,  containing  from  thirty  to 
forty  yards  of  line,  gradually  tapering  to  a  few  hairs  at  the  end,  where 
a  foot-link  of  gut  containing  the  flies  is  to  be  fixed.  >    ' 


328 


APPEITDIX. — A. 


Silkworm  gut  lines  are  from  two  to  four  yards,  and  are  used  as 
lengths  to  be  added  to  the  line  on  the  reel,  either  for  fly  or  bottom- 
fishing.  ' 

Lines  for  trolling  are  of  several  kinds,  some  of  twisted  silk,  and 
others  of  silk  and  hair,  but  that  sold  by  the  tackle-makers,  called 
patent  troll ing-linc,  is  in  most  general  use.  A  strong  reel,  and  from 
forty  to  sixty  yards  of  line,  are  requisite. 

Indian  weed  is  a  good  material  for  bottom-tackle,  but  inferior  to 
the  silkworm  gut. 

Eel-lines,  night-lines,  and  trimmers,  may  be  purchased  ready 
fitted  up. 

A  winch,  or  reel,  is  used  for  running-tackle,  and  is  generally  made 
of  brass,  but  I  have  seen  them  in  Scotland  made  of  wood,  where  they 
are  called  pirns ;  the  multiplying  reel  was  formerly  much  used,  but 
from  its  liability  to  be  out  of  order,  a  plain  reel,  without  a  stop,  is 
now  generally  preferred.  Reels  are  of  various  sizes,  containing  from  1 
twenty  to  one  hundred  yards  of  line. 

Bleak  and  Minnow  tackle  are  of  endless  variety  in  form  and  con- 
trivance, almost  every  experienced  angler  having  his  own  peculiar 
plan. 

The  paternoster  is  a  line  used  for  Pearch  fishing,  made  of  strong 
gut,  and  should  bo  connected  with  a  running-line  by  a  fine  steel 
swivel.  It  contains  three  hooks,  the  size  Nos.  7,  8,  or  9,  placed  at 
equal  distances  from  each  other;  the  first  near  the  bottom,  where  a 
small  plummet  of  lead  is  fixed  to  sink  the  line,  and  the  others  each 
from  eighteen  inches  to  two  feet  apart.  The  hooks  are  so  contrived 
by  swivels  as  to  revolve  round  the  line,  and  thereby  give  play  to  the 
live  Minnows  with  which  they  are  to  be  baited. 


FLOATS. 


Much  care  and  judgment  are  required  in  adapting  your  float  to  the 
various  streams  or  waters  in  which  you  angle.  A  deep  and  rapid  river 
will  require  a  float  that  will  carry  from  sixteen  to  twenty  of  No.  4 
shot.  If  the  stream  be  deep  and  the  current  gentle,  a  float  carrying 
one-half  that  number  of  shot  will  be  sufficiently  heavy ;  and  when  the 
water  is  perfectly  still,  a  very  light  quill-float,  carrying  two  of  No.  6 


APPENDIX. A. 


32ft 


ttliot,  should  bo  used ;  and  I  may  remark  here,  that  the  smaller  your 
float,  the  fowor  the  number  of  shot,  and  the  finer  your  bottom-tackle, 
the  greater  will  be  your  success. 

The  tip-capped  float  is  the  best  for  pond-fishing  and  for  gentle 
streams,  as  the  line  is  confined  at  each  end  of  the  float  by  a  cap, 
which  enables  you  to  strike  at  a  fish  with  greater  precision  than  with 
a  plugged  float,  which  has  a  wire  ring  at  the  bottom  for  the  line  to 
run  through. 

In  shotting  the  line,  I  prefer  a  number  of  small  shot  to  a  few  large 
ones,  as  they  make  less  disturbance  in  the  water. 

Your  line  must  bo  shotted  till  not  more  than  the  cap  of  your  float 
is  seen  above  the  water,  unless  it  should  be  very  rough  from  wind  or  a 
rapid  current,  in  which  case  something  more  of  the  float  must  swim 
above  water. 

The  porcupine  quill  is  a  favorite  float  with  some  anglers,  but  for  a 
moderate  stream  I  prefer  a  swan's  quill. 

f"         \  . 

I 

THE    LANDINO-NBT    AND  OAFF. 

The  Innding-net  may  be  purchased  so  contrived  as  to  unscrew  from 
a  socket  in  the  handle — ^which  should  bo  four  or  flve  feet  long — and  a 
gafT  or  hook  for  landing  Salmon,  Pike,  and  large  Trout,  may  also  be 
bought  to  screw  into  the  same  socket,  and  both  the  net  and  gaff  may 
bo  oftrried  in  your  basket  or  creel  till  you  reach  the  river  side 


22 


APPENDIX.-(B.) 


THE   PLY-FISHER'S    APPARATUS. 


From  HolUnd's  Brittth  Angler'i  ManuiU. 

A  COMPLETE  fly-fisher  will  make  his  own  flies,  and  will  find  much 
amusement  in  the  practice  of  this  delicate  art.     It  will  he  necessary 
that  he  should  provide  himself  with  the  following  materials  to  enable  i 
him  to  imitate  the  flies  described  heretofore  : 


HOOKS. 


London,  Kirby-sneck,  and  Limerick  hooks,  of  all  sizes.  Of  these, 
the  Limerick  hook  is  in  the  greatest  general  estimation  ;  but  in  the 
north  of  England,  the  Kirby-sneck  hook  is  preferred  for  small  hacklu 


Sies. 


FEATHERS. 


f 


Cooks'  and  hens'  hackles,  of  all  colors ;  those  chiefly  in  use  are 
red,  ginger,  coch-a-bonddu,  black,  dun,  olive,  grizzle,  and  white ;  the 
latter  for  dying  yellow,  &c. 

Peacock's  herl,  coppery  colored,  green,  and  brown. 

Black  ostrich's  herl. 

Gallino  fowls'  spotted  feathers. 

The  feathers  of  the  turkey,  the  grouse,  ptarmigan,  pheasant — cock 
and  hen — woodcock,  snipe,  dotteril,  landrail,  starling,  golden  plover 
or  peewit,  wild  mallaj-d,  bustard,  sea-swallow,  wren,  jay^  blackbird, 
throstle,  blue  pigeon,  argus  and  silver  pheasant. 

Water-rat's  fur,  mole's  fur,  and  hare's  ear. 

Mohair,  dyed,  of  all  colors. 


V 


APPCNDIX. — B 


831 


Fine  French  sewingHiilk,  of  all  colon. 

Flos  silk,  of  all  colors. 

German  wool,  of  all  colon. 

Gold  and  silver  twist. 

Silk  twist,  cobblers'  and  bees'-wax. 

A  pair  of  plien,  a  pair  of  fine-pointed  scissors,  a  small  hand  slide- 
rice,  and  a  fine-pointed  strong  dnbbing-needlo. 

Silkworm  gat,  from  the  finest  to  the  strongest,  and  Salmon  gut 
single  and  twisted 

Lengths  of  the  white  and  sorrel  hairs  >f  stallions'  tails. 


\^ 


•OK 


APPENDIX.-(0.) 


^^1       V      A 


HOW    TO    COOK    FISH 


THE   SALMON  -^  . 

Me  judice,  the  king  of  fishes,  is  the  best  plain  boiled.  His  richness 
is  sufficient,  his  fla\ur  so  excellent,  that,  so  far  from  being  improved, 
his  natural  qualities  are  destroyed  and  overpowered,  by  anything  of 
artificial  condiment. 

MY    OWN    RECEIPT    FOR    BOILING    SALMON. 

If  you  are  ever  so  lucky  as  to  catch  a  Salmon,  where  incontinently 
you  can  proceed  to  cook  him,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  wilderness,  within 
ten  yards  of  the  door  of  your  shantee,  with  the  fire  burning  and  the 
pot  boiling — good  ! 

Stun  him  at  once  by  a  heavy  blow  on  the  head ;  crimp  him  by  a 
succession  of  cuts  on  each  side,  through  the  muscle,  quite  down  to  the 
back-bone,  with  a  very  sharp  knife,  in  slashes  parallel  to  the  gill-cover. 
Then  place  him  for  ten  minutes  in  a  cold  spring,  or  under  the  jet  of  n 
water-fall.  In  the  meantime,  keep  your  pot  boiling,  nay,  but  screech- 
ing with  intense  heat,  filled  with  brine  strong  enough  to  bear  an  egg. 
Therein  immerse  him,  having  cut  out  the  gills,  opened  the  belly,  and 
washed  the  inside,  and  boil  him  at  the  rate  of  seven  minutes  and  a  half 
to  the  pound ;  dish  him,  and,  serving  him  with  no  sauce  save  a  turecn- 
fuU  of  the  water  in  which  he  has  been  boiled,  proceed  to  eat  him,  with 


/^ 


APPENDIX. 


-C. 


333 


no  other  condiment  than  a  little  salt  and  the  slightest  squeeze  of  a 
lemon.  I  do  not  object  to  cucumber  sliced  very  fine,  with  a  dressing 
of  oil,  three  tablespoons  to  one  of  vinegar,  salt,  and  black  pepper 
quantum  mff ;  but  I  regard  green  peas,  or  any  other  vegetable,  with 
thb  grand  fish,  as  a  cockney  abomination. 

SOYER's   receipt SALMON    AU    NATUREL. 

Clean  and  prepare  as  before ;  but,  if  he  be  not  fresh  enough  to 
crimp,  scale  him,  and  proceed  as  follows  : 

"  Put  your  fish  in  cold  water,  using  a  pound  of  salt  to  every  six 
quarts  of  water ;  let  it  be  well-covered  with  water,  and  set  it  over  a 
moderate  fire ;  when  it  begins  to  simmer,  set  it  on  the  side  of  the  fire. 
If  the  fish  weighs  four  pounds^  let  it  simmer  half  an  hour — if  eight 
pouuds,  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  and  so  on  in  proportion ;  dish  it  on 
a  napkin,  and  serve  lobster  or  shrimp-sauce  in  a  boat." 

soyer's  lobster-sauce  for  salmon. 

Put  twelve  table-spoonsful  of  melted  butter  into  a  stew-pan ;  cut  a 
middling-sized  hen-lobster  into  dice,  make  a  quarter  of  a  pound 
of  lobster-butter  with  the  spawn,  thus :  take  out  the  spawn  and  pound 
it  well  in  a  mortar,  then  add  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  fresh  butter,  mix 
them  well  together,  then  rub  it  through  a  hair  sieve ;  when  the  molted 
butter  is  upon  the  point  of  boiling,  add  the  lobster-butter,  stir  the  sauce 
round  over  the  fire,  until  the  butter  is  melted ;  season  with  a  little 
essence  of  anchovy,  the  juice  of  half  a  lemon,  and  a  quarter  of  a  tea- 
spoonful  of  cayenne  ;  pass  it  through  a  tamis  into  another  stew-pan, 
then  add  the  flesh  of  the  lobster.  When  hot,  it  is  ready  to  serve 
where  directed.  This  sauce  must  be  quite  red ;  if  not  red  in  the  lob- 
ster, use  live  spawn. 

soyer's  shrimp  sauce. 


Make  the  melted  butter  as  for  the  last,  but  finish  with  the  essence 
of  shrimps,  and  serve  half-a-pint  of  pickled  shrimps  in  the  boat  with  it 
If  no  essence  of  shrimps,  the  anchovy  sauce  may  be  served  with  shrimp'i 
in  it  as  a  substitute,  if  no  essence  can  be  had. 


334 


APPENDIX. — C. 


SALMON  A  LA  BEYROOT 

Broil  two  slices  of  Salmon,  in  oiled  paper,  over  a  moderate  fire ; 
when  they  are  done,  peel  the  skin  from  the  edge,  and  lay  them  on  a 
dish  without  a  napkin ;  have  ready  the  following  sauce :  put  one  table- 
spoonful  of  chopped  onions  in  a  stew-pan,  with  one  ditto  of  Chili  vine- 
gar, one  of  common  vinegar,  two  ditto  of  Harvey  sauce,  two  ditto  of 
mushroom  catsup,  and  twenty  tablespoonsful  of  melted  butter ;  let  it 
reduce  till  it  adheres  to  the  back  of  the  spoon,  then  add  two  table- 
spoonsful  of  essence  of  anchovy,  and  a  small  quantity  of  sugar,  pour 
it  over  the  fish,  and  serve  it  hot. 

'  •      %     '  ■■,■'■ 

HOW   TO   COOK    TROrx 
My  own  Method. 

This  is  the  method  of  the  woods,  and  in  the  woods  I  learnt  it ;  but 
having  learned,  I  practice  it  at  home,  considering  the  Trout  one  of 
the  most  delicious  morceaux^  when  thus  cooked,  in  the  world.  It 
must  be  cooked,  however,  in  the  open  air,  by  a  wood  fire  kindled  on 
the  ground  or  by  a  charcoal  fire  in  a  small  Boston  furnace. 

Clean  and  scale  your  fish,  open,  clean  and  wash  him  internally ;  take 
for  a  one  pound  fish  two  small  skewers  of  red  cedar  wood,  upon  each 
thread  a  piece  of  fat  salt  pork  half-an-inch  square ;  with  these  fasten 
the  belly  of  the  fish  asunder,  annex  him  by  the  tail  to  a  twig  of  pliant 
wood,  which  suffer  to  bend  over  the  fire  so  as  to  bring  the  fish  oppo- 
site the  blaze,  place  a  large  biscuit  or  a  slice  of  thin  dry  toast  under 
the  drip  of  the  gravy,  cook  quickly — for  a  two-pound  fish,  ten  minutes 
will  suffice — dish  with  the  biscuit  under  him,  and  eat  with  salt  and 
lemon-juice,  or,  if  you  please,  with  shrimp  or  lobster  sauce,  or  a  dash 
of  Worcestershire  or  Harvey  sauce,  though  I  think  these,  for  my  own 
cheek,  bad  taste. 

TROUT    AU    NATUREL.  ,     ^ 


A  large  Sea-Trout  or  Salmon-Trout  is  to  be  cleaned,  cooked  and 
eaten  precisely  as  the  Salmon  in  my  first  receipt.  I  conceive,  myself, 
that  any  piquante  or  rich  sauce  overpowers  the  flavor  of  the  fish,  and 


APPENDIX. 


335 


should  therefore  be  eschewed ;  but  those  who  favor  such  thintrs  maj 
eat  him  with  shrimp  or  lobster  sauce  as  above. 


HOW  TO   COOK    PIKE. 

■■  ■■        "  c**. 

Nobbs' Receipt  for  dressing  a  Pike. 

Take  your  Pike  and  open  him  ;  rub  him  within  with  salt  and  claret 
wine ;  save  the  milt,  and  a  little  of  the  bloody  fat ;  out  him  in  two 
or  three  pieces,  and  put  him  in  when  the  water  boils ;  put  in  with  him 
sweet  marjoram,  savory,  thyme,  or  fennel,  with  a  good  handful  of 
salt ;  let  them  boil  nearly  half  an  hour.  For  the  sauce,  take  sweet 
butter,  anchovies,  horse-radish,  claret  wine,  of  each  a  good  quantity  ; 
a  little  of  the  blood,  shalot,  or  garlic,  and  some  lemon  sliced ;  beat 
them  well  together,  and  serve  him  up. 

"      '       '         -^      Soy  efs  Receipt  for  Pike  roasted. 

This  fish  in  France  is  found  daily  upon  the  tables  of  the  first  epi- 
cures, but  the  quality  of  the  fish  there  appears  much  more  delicate 
than  here.  But  perhaps  the  reason  of  its  being  more  in  vogue  there 
is,  that  other  fish  are  more  scarce  ;  not  being  so  much  in  use  here — 
that  is,  in  Loudon — but  in  the  country,  where  gentlemen  have  sport 
in  catching  them,  they  are  much  more  thought  of,  and  to  them,  per- 
haps, the  following  receipts  may  be  the  most  valuable.  To  dress  it 
plain  it  is  usually  baked,  as  follows :  having  well  cleaned  the  fish,  stufl" 
it,  and  sew  the  belly  up  with  packthread ;  butter  a  saute-pan,  put  the 
fish  into  it  and  place  it  in  the  oven  for  an  hour  or  more,  according  to 
the  size  of  it ;  when  done,  dish  it  without  a  napkin,  and  pour  anchovy 
sauce  round  it ;  this  fish,  previous  to  its  being  bakf-  lUst  be  trussed 
with  its  tail  in  its  mouth,  four  incisions  cut  on  eacu  side,  and  well 
buttered  over. 

Pike  d,  la  Chambord. 

The  large  fish  are  the  only  ones  fit  for  this  dish,  (which  is  much 
thought  of  in  France.)  Have  the  fish  well  cleaned,  and  lard  it  in  a 
square  on  one  side  with  bacon,  put  it  in  a  fish-kettle,  the  larded  side 
upwards,  and  prepare  the  following  marinade  :  slice  four  onions,  one 
carrot,  and  one  turnip,  and  put  them  in  a  stew-pan  with  six  bay-leaves, 


336 


APPENDIX. 


six  cloves,  two  blades  of  mace,  a  little  thyme,  basil,  a  bunch  of  parsley, 
half-a-pound  of  lean  ham,  and  half-a-pound  of  butter ;  pass  it  over  a 
slow  fire  twenty  minutes,  keeping  it  stirred ;  then  add  half  a  bottle  of 
Madeira  wine,  a  wineglassful  of  vinegar,  and  six  quarts  of  broth ;  boil 
altogether  an  hour,  then  pass  it  through  a  sieve,  and  pour  the  liquor 
into  the  kettle  over  the  fish ;  set  the  fish  on  the  fire  to  stew  for  an 
hour  or  more,  according  to  the  size,  but  take  care  the  marinade  does 
not  cover  the  fish,  moisten  the  larded  part,  now  and  then,  with  the 
stock,  and  put  some  burning  charcoal  on  the  lid  of  the  kettle ;  when 
done,  glaze  it  lightly,  dish  it  without  a  napkin,  and  have  ready  the 
following  sauce  :  put  a  pint  of  the  stock  your  fish  was  stewed  in — hav- 
ing previously  taken  off  all  the  fat — into  a  stew-pan,  with  two  glasses 
of  Madeira  wine,  reduce  it  to  half,  then  add  two  quarts  of  brown 
sauce,  keep  it  stirred  over  the  fire  till  the  sauce  adheres  to  the  back 
of  the  wooien  spoon,  then  add  the  rocs  of  four  carp  or  mackerel — cut 
in  large  pieces,  but  be  careful  not  to  break  them — twenty  heads  of 
very  white  mushrooms,  twenty  cockscombs,  twelve  large  quenellings 
of  whiting,  and  finish  with  a  tablespoonful  of  essence  of  anchovies  and 
half  a  one  of  sugar,  pour  the  sauce  round  the  fish,  arranging  the  garni- 
ture with  taste,  add  twelve  crawfish  to  the  garniture,  having  previously 
taken  off  all  the  small  claws ;  serve  very  hot. 

This  dish,  I  dare  say,  will  be  but  seldom  made  in  this  country,  on 
account  of  its  complication,  but  I  thought  proper  to  give  it  on  account 
of  the  high  estimation  in  which  it  is  held  in  France ;  I  must,  however, 
observe,  that  I  have  omitted  some  of  the  garniture  which  would  make 
it  still  more  expensive,  and  if  there  should  be  any  difficulty  in  getting 
what  remains,  the  sauce  is  very  good  without. 

Pike  en  matelote. 

Stuff  and  bake  the  fish  as  before ;  when  done,  dress  it  without  a 
napkin,  and  pour  a  sauce  matelote  in  the  middle  and  round  the  fish, 
and  serve  very  hot.     Or  the  fish  may  be  stewed  as  in  the  last. 

Pike  a  la  Hollandaise. 

Boil  the  fish  in  salt  and  water,  in  the  same  manner  as  Cod-Fish  ; 
drain  it  well,  dish  it  without  a  napkin,  pour  a  sauce  Hollandaise  over  it 


APPBNDIX.- 


337 


A\ 


-Fish; 
lover  it 


Small  Pi's  d  la  MeunUre. 

Crimp  a  ^mall  Piko,  it  must  not  weigh  more  than  two  pounds,  but 
smaller  if  you  can  get  it,  and  prooood  exactly  as  for  Solo  k  la  meu- 
nidre,  but  allow  it  more  time. 

Pike  with  caper  tauee. 

Boil  the  fish  as  before,  and  have  ready  caper  sauce  made  as  follows : 
put  fifteen  tablespoonsful  of  melted  butter  in  a  stew-pan,  and  when  it 
boils  add  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  fresh  butter ;  when  it  melts,  add  two 
tablcspoonsful  of  liaison  ;  lot  it  remain  on  the  fire  to  thicken,  but  do 
not  let  it  boil ;  moisten  with  a  little  milk  if  required,  then  add  two 
tablcspoonsful  of  capers,  and  pour  over  the  fish. 

Pike  d  la  Maitre  tVHdtel. 

Boil  the  fish  as  usual,  and  dbh  it  without  a  napkin ;  then  put  twelve 
tablospoonfuls  of  melted  butter  in  a  stow-pan ;  and  when  it  is  upon  the 
point  of  boiling,  add  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  mattre  d'hdtel  butter, 
and  when  it  melts  pour  over  and  round  the  fish ;  serve  very  hot. 

Pike  d  la  Egyplienne. 

Cut  two  onions,  two  turnips,  one  carrot,  ono  head  of  celery,  and  onu 
leek  into  slices ;  put  them  into  a  largo  stow-pan  with  some  parsley, 
thyme,  bay-leaves,  and  a  pint  of  port  wine  ;  then  have  your  fish  ready 
trussed,  with  its  tail  in  its  mouth  ;  put  it  into  the  stew-pan,  with  the 
vegetables ;  add  three  pints  of  broth,  and  sot  it  on  a  slow  fire  to  stew, 
with  some  live  charcoal  upon  the  lid ;  try,  when  done,  by  running  the 
knife  close  in  to  the  back  bone ;  if  the  moat  detaches  easily,  it  is  done ; 
take  it  out,  and  place  on  a  baking  sheet ;  dry  it  with  a  cloth,  then 
egg  and  bread-crumb  it ;  put  it  in  the  oven,  and  salamander  it  a  light 
brown ;  then  put  twenty  tablcspoonsful  of  white  sauce  in  a  stew-pan, 
with  eight  of  milk,  and  reduce  it  five  minutes ;  then  add  four  gher- 
kins, the  whites  of  four  hard-boiled  eggs,  and  two  truffles,  cut  in  very 
small  dice ;  finish  with  two  tablcspoonsful  of  essence  of  anchovies,  the 
juice  of  half  a  lemon,  and  four  pats  of  butter ;  dress  the  fish  without  a 
napkin,  and  sauce  over. 

Fillets  of  Pike  en  matelote. 
If  for  a  dinner  for  twelve,  fillet  four  small  Pike ;  egg  and  bread- 


338 


APPENDIX. — C. 


pnunb,  and  fry  in  oil ;  dish  them  round  on  a  border  of  mashed  pota- 
toes, previously  cutting  each  fillet  in  halves,  and  serve  sauce  matelote 
in  the  centre. 

FUlets  of  Pike  d  la  MeuniirC' 

Fillet  four  Pike  as  above,  cut  each  fillet  in  halves,  rub  some  chop- 
ped eschalot  into  them,  dip  them  in  flour,  broil  them ;  when  done, 
sauce  as  for  Sole  k  la  meunidre.  Observe,  if  you  happen  to  live  in  the 
country  where  Pike  is  plentiful,  you  may  dish  the  fillets  in  as  many 
ways  as  Soles,  or  any  other  fish  ;  but  I  have  omitted  giving  them  here, 
thinking  it  useless  to  fill  a  useful  book  with  so  many  repetitions ;  we 
have  several,  ways  of  dressing  Pike  to  be  eaten  cold  in  France,  which 
I  have  also  omitted,  as  they  would  be  quite  useless  in  this  country. 

HOW  TO  COOK  PEARCH. 

The  best  mode  of  cooking  a  Pearch,  under  a  pound  weight,  is  by  I . 
broiling  it. 

Small  Pearch  will  serve  to  make  water-souchy  thus :  Scale,  gut, 
and  wash  your  Pearch  ;  put  salt  in  your  water ;  when  it  boils  put  in 
the  fish,  with  an  onion  cut  in  slices,  and  seperated  into  rings;  a 
handful  of  parsley,  picked  and  washed  clean ;  put  in  as  much  milk  as 
will  turn  the  water  white ;  when  your  fish  are  done  enough,  put  them 
in  a  soup  dish,  and  pour  a  little  of  the  water  over  them,  with  the 
parsley,  and  the  onions  ;  then  serve  them  up  with  parsley  and  butter 
in  a  boat. 

Large  Pearch  may  be  crimped  and  boiled  in  che  same  way. 

Soyer^s  Receipt  for  Pearch  d  la  HoUandai$e. 

Have  three  middling-sized  fishes  ready  prepared  for  cooking ;  then 
put  two  ounces  of  butter,  two  onions,  in  slices,  one  carrot,  cut  small, 
some  parsley,  two  bay-leaves,  six  cloves,  and  two  blades  of  mace  in  a 
stew-pan ;  pass  it  five  minutes  over  a  brisk  fire,  then  add  a  quart  of 
water,  two  glasses  of  vinegar,  one  ounce  of  salt,  and  a  little  pepper ; 
boil  altogether  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  pass  it  through  a  sieve  into  a 
small  fish-kettle ;  then  lay  the  fishes  into  it,  and  let  them  stew  twenty 
or  thirty  minutes  over  a  moderate  fire ;  dress  them  on  a  dish  without  a 
napkin,  and  pour  a  sauce  HoUandabe  over  them. 


APPENDIX. — C. 


Pearch  d  la  Maitre  d'Hdtel. 


33d 


Prepare  and  oook  your  fish  as  above ;  then  put  twenty  tablespoons- 
ful  of  melted  butter  in  a  stew-pan,  and  when  it  is  upon  the  point  of 
boiling,  add  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  Mattre  d'Hdtel  butter,  and  pour 
the  sauce  over  the  fish,  which  dress  on  a  dish  without  a  napkin. 

Small  Pearehea  en  izaUr  touchet. 

Cut  four  small  fishes  in  halves,  having  previously  taken  off  all  the 
scales,  and  proceed  precisely  as  for  Flounders  en  water  souchet. 

Small  Pearehea  frits  au  beurre. 

Scale  and  well  dry  six  Pearches,  and  make  incisions  here  and  there 
on  each  side  of  them  ;  then  put  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  butter  into  a 
sautd-pan,  season  your  fishes  with  pepper  and  salt,  put  them  in  the 
sautd-pan  and  fry  them  gently,  turning  them  carefully ;  when  done, 
dress  them  on  a  napkin,  garnish  with  parsley,  and  serve  without  sauce. 

In  my  opinion,  they  are  much  better  cooked  in  this  way  than  boiled 
or  stewed ;  large  fish  may  also  be  done  this  way,  but  they  require  more 
butter,  and  must  cook  very  slowly. 

HOW  TO  COOK  CARP. 

Izaak  Walton'a  receipt. 

But  first,  I  will  tell  you  how  to  make  this  Carp,  that  is  so  curious 
to  be  caught,  so  curious  a  dish  of  meat  as  shall  make  him  worth  all 
your  labor  and  patience.  And  though  it  is  not  without  some  trouble 
and  charges,  yet  it  will  recompense  both.  Take  a  Carp — alive  if 
possible ;  scour  him,  and  rub  him  clean  with  water  and  salt,  but  scale 
him  not ;  then  open  him,  and  put  him  with  his  blood  and  liver,  which 
you  must  save  when  you  open  him,  into  a  small  pot  or  kettle ;  then 
take  sweet  marjoram,  thyme,  or  parsley,  of  each  a  handful ;  a  sprig 
of  rosemary,  and  mother-of-savory ;  bind  them  into  two  or  three 
small  bundles,  and  put  them  to  your  Carp,  with  four  or  five  whole 
onions,  twenty  pickled  oysters,  and  three  anchovies.  Then  pour  upon 
your  Carp  as  much  claret  wine  as  will  only  cover  him ;  and  season 
your  claret  well  with  salt,  cloves  and  mace,  and  the  rind  of  oranges 
and  lemons.  That  done,  cover  your  pot,  and  set  it  on  a  quick  fire 
till  it  be  sufficiently  boiled.     Then  take  out  the  Carp,  and  lay  it  with 


340 


APPENDIX. — C. 


the  broth  into  the  dish,  and  pour  upon  it  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  the 
best  fresh  butter,  melted  and  beaten  with  a  half-a-dozen  spoonsful  ol 
the  broth,  the  yolks  of  two  or  three  eggs,  and  some  of  the  herbs 
shred ;  garnish  your  dish  with  lemons,  and  so  serve  it  up,  and  much 
good  to  you. 

Soyer'a  Receipt  for  Carp  en  matelote. 

Have  your  fish  ready  cleaned,  and  make  four  or  five  incisions  on 
each  side ;  then  put  two  sliced  onions,  three  sprigs  of  thyme  and  pars- 
ley, and  half-a-pint  of  port  wine  in  a  Htew-pan,  or  small  fi&h-kettle ; 
season  the  fish  with  pepper  and  salt,  lay  it  in  the  stew-pan,  add  four 
pints  of  broth,  and  place  it  on  a  slow  fire  to  stew  for  an  hour — which 
will  be  sufficient  for  a  fish  of  five  pounds  weight — or  more,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  size  ;  when  done,  dress  it  on  a  dish,  without  a  napkin ; 
drain  it  well,  and  serve  a  matelote  sauce  over  it ;  only  use  some  of  the 
stock  from  the  fish,  having  previously  taken  off  all  the  fat,  instead  of 
plain  broth,  as  directed  in  that  article. 

Carp  d  la  Oenoise. 

Prepare  your  fish  as  above,  and  lay  it  in  your  fish-kettle,  with  two 
ounces  of  salt,  half  a  bottle  of  port  wine,  two  onions,  two  turnips,  on 3 
leek,  one  carrot,  cut  in  slices,  three  bay-leaves,  six  cloves,  two  blades 
of  mace,  and  a  sprig  of  parsley,  cover  the  fish  with  white  broth  ;  stew 
it  as  before,  dress  it  without  a  napkin,  prepare  a  sauce  Genoise  and 
poiu"  over  it. 

Stewed  Carp  d  la  Marquise. 

Cook  the  fish  as  above,  and  when  done,  dress  it  on  a  dish  without  a 
napkin,  and  have  ready  the  following  sauce :  put  twenty  tablespoonsful 
of  white  sauce  in  a  stew-pan,  reduce  it  over  a  fire  until  rather  thick, 
then  add  a  gill  of  whipt  cream,  two  tablespoonsful  of  capers,  and  two 
of  chopped  gherkins ;  pour  over  the  fish,  then  sprinkle  two  tablespoons- 
ful  of  chopped  beet-root  over  it,  and  serve.  v 

Carp  loith  caper  sauce. 

Cook  the  fish  as  above,  and  dress  it  without  a  napkin ;  then  put 
twenty-five  tablespoonsful  of  melted  butter  into  a  stew-pan,  and  when 


1' 


APPENDIX. — C. 


341 


nearly  boiling  add  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  fresh  butter ;  stir  it  till  the 
butter  melts,  then  add  four  tablespoonsful  of  capers,  and  pour  over. 
This  sauce  must  be  rather  thick. 

Carpfried, 

Open  the  fish  down  the  back  with  a  sharp  knife  from  the  head  to 
the  tail,  cutting  off  half  the  head,  so  that  the  fish  is  quite  flat ;  break 
the  back-bone  in  thre'3  places,  but  allow  the  roe  to  remain ;  then  dip 
the  fish  in  flour,  and  fry  it  in  hot  lard ;  dress  it  on  a  napkin,  garnish 
with  parsley,  and  serve  plain  melted  butter,  well-seasoned,  in  a  boat. 

HOW   TO    COOK    EELS. 

Eels  fried. 

Cut  the  Eels  in  pieces  about  three  inches  long,  dip  them  in  flour, 
egg  and  bread-crumb,  and  fry  them  in  very  hot  lard,  dress  them  on  a 
napkin,  garnish  with  parsley,  and  serve  shrimp-sauce  in  a  boat. 

Eels  d,  la  Tar  tare. 

Cut  the  Eels  and  fry  as  above,  have  ready  some  Ta^tare  sauce  upon 
a  cold  dish,  lay  the  Eels  upon  it,  and  serve  immediately ;  should  the 
Eels  be  large,  they  must  be  three-parts  stewed  before  they  aic  fried ; 
dry  them  upon  a  cloth  previous  to  bread-crumbing  them. 

SpitckcocJced  Eels. 

Take  the  bones  out  of  the  Eels  by  opening  them  from  head  to  tail, 
and  cut  them  in  pieces  about  four  inches  long,  throw  th^m  into  some 
flour,  then  have  ready  upon  a  dish  about  a  couple  of  handiuls  of  bread- 
crumbs, a  tablespoonful  of  chopped  parsley,  a  little  dried  thyme,  and 
a  little  cayenne  pepper,  then  egg  each  piece  of  Eel  and  bread-crumb 
them  with  it,  fry  them  in  very  hot  lard,  dish  them  on  a  napkin,  and 
servo  shrimp-sauce  in  a  boat. 

Stewed  Eels. 

Cut  the  Eels  in  pieces  as  before,  and  tie  each  piece  round  with  pack- 
thread, then  put  them  into  a  stew-pan  with  an  onion,  a  tablespoonful 
of  white  wine,  three  cloves,  three  whole  allspice,  a  bunch  of  parsley, 
thyme,  and  bay-leaf,  and  a  little  white  broth,  sufficient  to  cover  them ; 


842 


APPENDIX. 


place  them  over  a  moderate  fire,  and  let  them  stow  gently  for  half  an 
hour  or  more,  if  required — according  to  the  size  of  the  Eel — take 
them  out,  drain  them  on  a  napkin,  dish  them  without  a  napkin,  and 
have  ready  the  following  aauoe :  put  a  teaspoonful  of  chopped  onions 
into  a  stew-pan  with  four  tablcspoonsful  of  white  wine,  and  eight  ditto 
of  brown  sauce,  lot  it  boil  gently  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  keeping 
it  stirred,  then  add  a  teaspoonful  of  essence  of  anchovies  and  a  little 
sugar,  and  pour  over  your  Eels. 

Eelt  en  matelote. 

Stew  the  Eels  as  above,  dress  them  without  a  napkin,  and  pour  n 
sauce  matelote  over  them.  They  may  also  bo  served  with  a  sauce  ii 
la  Beyrout. 

HOW  TO  COOK  SHAD. 

Broiled  Shad. 

Scale,  clean,  out  off  the  head  and  fins,  split  down  the  back,  broil 
quickly  over  a  charcoal  fire ;  broil  the  roe  separately  in  the  same 
manner ;  serve  on  a  hot  dish,  garnished  with  the  roe  and  fried  parsley. 
Eat  with  drawn  butter,  anchovy,  or  shrimp  sauce. 

To  Boil  Shad. 

Scale,  open,  clean,  and  wash  your  fish ;  boil  him  quickly,  wrapped 
in  a  napkin,  in  boiling  water  ;  serve  upon  a  napkin,  garnished  with 
fried  parsley ;  eat  with  caper  sauce. 

Sea-shore  receipt  for  Roasted  Shad. 

Split  your  fish  down  the  back  after  he  is  cleaned  and  washed,  nail 
the  halves  on  shingles  or  short  board  ;  stick  them  erect  in  the  sand 
round  a  large  fire  ;  as  soon  as  they  are  well-browned,  serve  on  what- 
ever you  have  got ;  eat  with  cold  butter,  black  pepper,  salt,  and  a 
good  appetite.  ^ 

This  is  a  delicious  way  of  cooking  this  fine  fish. 


[ 


HOW  TO  COOK  TAUTOO. 

Glean,  score,  and  broil  your  Black-Fish  quickly  ;  lay  it  in  a  stew- 


APPENDIX. 


343 


p»u,  with  a  bottle  of  port  wino,  two  sliced  onions,  six  or  seven  cloves 
and  a  few  poppor-corns ;  add  an  eschalot  and  some  cayenne ;  pour  in  a 
quart  of  weak  veal-broth,  stow  gently  for  an  hour. 

HOW  TO  COOK  SqUETEAOUE. 

Boil  when  cleaned,  and  servo  with  shrimp  sauce,  precisely  ns  Salmon 
or  Trout. 

HOW  TO  COOK  SEA  BASS. 

Boiled. 

Boil  plain,  as  above ;  serve  with  shrimp  sauce,  caper  sauce,  or 
parsley  and  butter. 

Broiled. 

Broil  quickly  over  a  charcoal  fire ;  serve  with  matelote  sauce,  as 
follows :  ' 

Sauce  Matelote. 

Peel  about  twenty  button  onions,  then  put  a  teaspoonful  of  powdered 
sugar  in  a  stew-pan,  place  it  over  a  sharp  fire,  and  when  melted  and 
getting  brown,  add  a  pioco  of  butter  the  sizs  of  two  walnuts,  and  your 
onions,  pass  them  over  the  fire  until  rather  brown ;  then  add  a  glass 
of  sherry,  let  it  boil,  then  add  a  pint  of  brown  sauce  and  ten  spoonfuls 
of  consommd,  simmer  at  the  corner  of  the  fire  until  the  onions  are 
quite  tender,  skim  it  well ;  then  add  twenty  small  quenelles,  ten  heads 
of  mushrooms,  and  a  teaspoonful  of  essence  of  anchovies,  one  of  catsup, 
one  of  Harvey  sauce,  and  a  little  cayenne  pepper.  Serve  where 
directed.    .  ,>>i/.,    -.:.,  ^p-     '-■  -■i,,; 

HOW  TO  COOK  KING-FISH. 

I 

Broil  over  a  quick  fire,  serve  plain,  eat  with  anchovy  or  shrimp 
sauce. 

Fry  in  olive  oil,  serve  plain,  eat  with  salt  and  red  pepper. 


HOW  TO  COOK  sheep's-head. 

Rub  it  over  with  salt  and  lemon  before  putting  it  in  the  water.     To 
every  six  quarts  of  water  add  one  pound  of  salt.    Boil  a  ten-pound 


344 


APPENDIX. — C. 


fUli  about  twenty  minutes.     Serve  on  a  napkin,  garnish  irith  p«rsley, 
eat  with  shrimp  or  lobster  sauce. 

HOW    TO   COOK    HALIBUT. 

Soyer'a  Receipt  for  Halibut  to  boil. 

A  Halibut  must  bo  well  rubbed  over  with  salt  and  lemon  before  it 
is  put  in  the  water ;  have  ready  a  largo  Halibut-kottlo  half-full  of  cold 
water,  and  to  every  six  quarts  of  wutcr  put  one  pound  of  salt,  luy  the 
Csh  in,  and  place  it  over  a  moderate  fire ;  a  Halibut  of  eight  pounds 
may  be  allowed  to  simmer  twenty  minutes  or  rather  more ;  thus  it  will 
bo  about  three-quarters  of  an  hour  altogether  in  the  water ;  when  it 
begins  to  crack  very  slightly,  lift  it  up  with  the  drnincr,  and  cover  a 
clean  white  napkin  over  it ;  if  you  intend  serving  the  sauce  over  yom* 
firih,  dish  it  up  without  a  napkin  ;  if  not,  dish  it  upon  a  napkin,  and 
have  ready  some  good  sprigs  of  double  parsley  to  garnish  it  with,  an^ 
serve  very  hot. 

Halibut  d  la  Crime. 

(^ook  the  Halibut  as  above,  and  dish  it  without  a  napkin — but  be 
oaioful  that  it  is  well  drained  before  you  place  it  on  the  dish,  and  ab- 
sorb what  water  runs  from  the  fiuh  with  a  napkin,  for  that  liquor  would 
spoil  your  sauce,  and  cauao  it  to  lose  that  creamy  substance  which  it 
ought  to  retain ;  this  remark  applies  to  all  kinds  of  fish  that  is  served 
up  with  the  sauce  over  it ;  then  put  one  pint  of  cream  on  the  fire  in  a 
good-sized  stew-pan,  and  when  it  is  nearly  simmering  add  half-a-pound 
of  fresh  butter,  and  stir  it  as  quickly  as  possible  until  the  butter  is 
melted,  but  the  cream  must  not  boil ;  then  add  a  liaison  of  three  yolks 
of  eggs,  season  with  a  little  salt,  pepper,  and  lemon-juice,  pour  as 
much  over  the  Halibut  as  will  cover  it,  and  serve  the  remainder  in  a 
boat ;  or  if  not  approved  of,  dish  the  fish  on  a  napkin,  garnish  with 
parsley,  and  serve  the  sauce  in  a  boat  This  sauce  must  not  be  made 
until  the  moment  it  is  wanted.  ,,  .        ,,.         •    :,  ,\ 

Halibut  Sauce  hotnard. 

Cook  the  Halibut  as  before,  then  take  an  ounce  of  lobster  spawn 
and  pound  it  in  a  mortar  with  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  fresh  butter, 
rub  it  through  a  hair  sieve  with  a  wooden  spoon  upon  a  plate ;  have 


f 


APPElfDII. — C. 


34A 


ready  a  pint  of  good  molted  butter  nearly  boiling,  into  which  pat  the 
rod  butter,  and  soomou  with  a  toaspvonful  of  cMonoo  of  anchovy,  a 
Httlo  Harvoy  sauco,  oayonne  pepper,  and  amlt,  thon  cut  up  the  flesh  of 
the  lobster  in  dice  aul  put  in  the  sauuo  ;  servo  it  in  a  boat  vory  hot. 

Halibut  d  la  Hoflandaiae. 

Cook  the  Halibut  as  before,  and  dish  without  a  napkin  ;  thon  put 
the  yolks  of  four  eggs  in  a  stow-pan  with  half-a-pound  of  frosh  butter, 
the  juioe  of  a  lemon,  half  a  tcaspoonful  of  salt,  and  a  quarter  of  one  of 
white  popper ;  set  it  over  a  slow  firo,  stirring  it  tho  whole  time  quickly ; 
when  the  butter  is  half-melted  take  it  off  tho  firo  for  a  few  seconds, 
still  kooping  it  stirred,  till  tho  butter  is  quite  molted,  then  place  it 
again  on  tho  firo  till  it  thickens,  then  add  a  quart  of  molted  butter,  stir 
it  again  on  the  fire,  but  do  not  lot  it  boil,  or  it  would  curdle  and  be 
useless ;  then  pass  it  through  a  tammio  into  another  stow-pan,  make  it 
hot  in  the  bain  marie,  stirring  all  the  time ;  pour  it  over  tho  fish  or 
serve  in  a  boat.  The  sauce  must  bo  rather  sharp  ;  add  more  season- 
ing if  required. 

Halibut  d  la  Mazarine. 

Cook  the  fish  as  above,  then  have  all  tho  spawn  from  two  fine  hen 
lobsters ;  if  not  sufficient,  got  some  live  spawn  from  tho  fishmonger's, 
making  altogether  about  two  ounces ;  pound  it  well  in  cho  mortar  and 
mix  it  with  half-a-pound  of  fresh  butter,  rub  it  through  a  hair  sieve, 
place  it  upon  ice  until  firm,  then  put  it  in  a  stow-pan  with  the  yolks 
of  four  eggs,  a  little  pepper,  half  a  teaspoonful  of  salt,  and  four  table- 
spoonsful  of  lemon-juice,  place  it  over  the  fire,  and  proceed  as  for  the 
sauce  HoUandaiso,  adding  the  same  quantity  of  melted  butter,  and  two 
teaspoonfuls  of  essence  of  anchovy,  pass  it  through  a  tammio  into  a 
clean  stew-pan  to  make  it  hot,  dish  the  fish  without  a  napkin,  soaking 
up  tho  water  in  the  dish  with  a  clean  cloth,  and  pour  the  sauce  over 
it ;  be  careful  the  sauce  docs  not  boil,  or  it  will  curdle. 

This  dish  is  one  of  the  most  elegant,  and  is  the  best  way  of  dressing 
a  Halibut ;  for  I  have  always  remarked,  that  notwithstanding  its  sim- 
plicity, it  has  given  the  greatest  satisfaction,  both  for  its  delicateness 
and  appearance,  causing  no  trouble — only  requiring  care. 

23  ->^ 


346 


APPENDIX.- 


Halihut  en  matelote  Normande.  • 

Procure  a  smallish  Halibut,  one  weighing  about  ten  pounds  would  be 
the  best ;  cut  off  part  of  the  fins,  and  make  an  incision  in  the  back,  but- 
ter a  saute-pan,  large  enough  to  lay  the  Halibut  in  quite  flat,  and  put 
three  tablespoonsful  of  chopped  eschalots,  three  glasses  of  sherry  or 
Madeira,  half  a  teaspoonful  of  salt,  a  little  white  pepper,  and  about 
half-a-pint  of  white  bi'oth  into  it,  then  lay  in  the  Halibut  and  cover  it 
over  with  white  sauce,  start  it  to  boil  over  a  slow  fire,  then  put  it  into 
a  moderate  oven  about  an  hour,  try  whether  it  is  done  with  a  skewer ; 
if  the  skewer  goes  through  it  easily  it  is  done  ;  if  not,  bake  it  a  little 
longer,  then  give  it  a  light  brown  tinge  with  the  salamander,  place  the 
fish  upon  a  dish  to  keep  it  hot,  then  put  a  pint  of  white  sauce  in  the 
saute-pan  and  boil  it  fifteen  minutes,  stirring  it  all  the  time,  then  pass 
it  through  a  tamniie  into  a  clean  stew-pan,  and  add  a  little  cayenne 
pepper,  two  tablespoonsful  of  essence  of  anchovies,  two  dozen  of  oys- 
ters, blanched,  two  dozen  of  small  mushrooms,  two  dozen  quenelles, 
six  spoonsful  of  milk,  and  a  teaspoonful  of  sugar,  reduce  it  till  about 
the  thickness  of  buchamel  sauce,  then  add  eight  tablespoonsful  of 
cream  and  the  juice  of  a  lemon,  pour  over  the  Halibut ;  have  ready 
twenty  coriltons  of  bread  cut  triangularly  from  the  crust  of  a  French 
roll,  and  fried  in  butter ;  place  them  round  the  dish,  and  pass  the  sala- 
mander over  it,  and  serve. 

HaHbut  en  matelote  vierge. 
Boil  a  Halibut  as  before,  dish  it  up  without  a  napkin,  and  have 
ready  the  following  sauce :  chop  two  onions  very  fine  and  put  them  in 
a  stew-pan  with  four  glasses  of  sherry,  a  sole  cut  in  four  pieces,  two 
cloves,  one  blade  of  mace,  a  little  grated  nutmeg,  some  parsley,  and 
one  bay-leaf;  boil  altogether  five  minutes,  then  add  a  quart  of  white 
sauce,  boil  twenty  minutes,  stirring  all  the  time,  then  put  a  tammie 
over  a  clean  stew-pan,  and  colander  over  the  tammie,  pass  the  sauce, 
take  the  meat  off  the  sole  and  rub  it  through  the  tammie  with  two 
spoons  into  the  sauce,  add  half  a  pint  of  broth,  boil  it  again  imtil  it  is 
rather  thick,  season  with  a  teaspoonful  of  salt,  one  of  sugar,  the  juice 
of  a  lemon,  and  finish  with  half-a-pint  of  cream  whipped,  mix  it  quickly 
and  pour  over  the  fish  ;  garnish  with  white-bait  and  fried  oysters,  that 
have  been  egged  and  bread-crumbed  ;  or  if  there  is  no  white-bail, 
smelts  will  do. 


APPENDIX. 


347 


Halibut  d  la  Religieuse. 


Dress  thu  Halibut  as  before,  and  cover  with  HoUandaise  sauce; 
chop  some  Taragon  chervil,  and  one  French  trufBe,  which  sprinkle 
over  it ;  garnish  with  hard-boiled  eggs  cut  in  four  lengthwise  and  laid 
round. 

Halibut  d  la  Cremi ;  graline. 

Put  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  flour  in  a  stew-pan,  mix  it  gently  with 
a  quart  of  milk,  be  careful  that  it  is  not  lumpy,  then  add  two  escha- 
lots, a  bunch  of  parsley,  one  bay-leaf,  and  a  sprig  of  thyme  tied  toge- 
ther, for  if  put  in  loose  it  would  spoil  the  color  of  your  sauce,  which 
should  be  quite  white,  then  add  a  little  grated  nutmeg,  a  teaspoonful 
of  salt  and  a  quarter  ditto  of  pepper,  place  it  over  a  sharp  fire  and  stir 
it  the  whole  time,  boil  it  till  it  forms  rather  a  thickish  paste,  then  take 
it  off  the  fire  and  add  half-a-pound  of  fresh  butter  and  the  yolks  of  two 
eggs,  mix  them  wall  into  the  sauce  and  pass  it  througo  a  tamniie  ;  then 
having  the  remains  of  a  Halibut  left  from  a  previous  dinner,  you  lay 
some  of  the  sauce  on  the  bottom  of  a  dish,  then  a  layer  of  the  Halibut, 
without  any  bono,  season  it  lightly  with  pepper  and  salt,  then  put 
another  layer  of  sauc3,  then  fish  and  sauce  again  until  it  is  all  used, 
finishing  with  sauce  ;  sprinkle  the  top  lightly  with  bread-crumbs  and 
grated  Parmesan  cheese  ;  put  it  in  a  moderate  oven  half  an  hour,  give 
it  a  light  brown  color  with  the  salamander,  and  serve  it  in  the  dish  it  is 
baked  in. 

Halibut  a.  la  Poissoniere. 

Boil  a  Halibut  as  before,  and  take  it  up  when  only  one-third  cooked, 
then  put  in  a  large  saute-pan  or  baking-sheet  forty  button  onions 
peeled  and  cut  in  rings,  two  ounces  of  butter,  two  glasses  of  port  wine, 
the  peel  of  half  a  lemon,  and  four  spoonsful  of  chopped  mushrooms, 
then  lay  in  the  Halibut,  and  cover  with  a  quart  of  brown  sauce,  set  it  in 
a  slow  oven  for  an  hour,  then  take  it  out  and  place  it  carefully  on  a 
dish,  place  the  fish  again  in  the  oven  to  keep  it  hot,  then  take  the 
hmon-poel  out  of  the  sauce  and  pour  the  sauce  into  a  stew-pan,  reduce 
it  till  rather  thick,  then  add  twenty  muscles,  (blanched,)  twenty  heads 
of  mushrooms,  and  about  thirty  fine  prawns ;  when  ready  to  serve  add 
one  ounce  of  anchovy  butter,  a  tablespoonful  of  sugar,  and  a  little 


34S 


APPENDIX. — C. 


cayenne  pepper,  stir  it  in  quickly,  but  do  not  let  it  boil ;  pour  the 
sauce  over  the  fish,  and  serve  very  hot. 


Halibut  a  la  Cr^me  d'Anchois. 


\ 


Boil  the  Halibut  and  dish  it  without  a  napkin,  then  pour  the  follow- 
ing sauce  over  it  and  serve  immediately :  put  a  quart  of  melted  butter 
into  a  stew-pan,  place  it  on  the  fire,  and  when  nearly  boiling  add  six 
ounces  of  anchovy  butter,  and  four  spoonsful  of  whipped  cream,  mix  it 
quickly,  but  do  not  let  it  boil;  when  poured  over  the  fish  sprinkle 
some  chopped  capers  and  gherkins  over  it. 

Small  Halibut  a  la  Meuniire. 

Crimp  the  Halibut  by  making  incisions  with  a  sharp  knife,  about  an 
inch  apart,  in  the  belly  part  of  the  fish,  then  rub  two  tablespoonsful  of 
chopped  onions  and  four  of  salt  into  the  incisions,  pour  a  little  salad 
oil  over  it,  and  dip  it  in  flour,  then  put  it  on  a  gridiron  a  good  distance 
from  the  fire — the  belly  downwards — let  it  remain  twenty  minutes, 
then  turn  it  by  placing  another  gridiron  over  it,  and  turning  the  fish 
over  on  to  it,  place  it  over  the  fire  for  about  twenty-five  minutes,  or 
longer  if  required  ;  when  done  place  it  upon  a  dish  and  have  ready 
the  following  sauce  :  put  six  ounces  of  butter  in  a  stew-pan,  with  ten 
spoonsful  of  melted  butter,  place  it  over  the  fire,  moving  the  stew- 
pan  round  when  very  hot,  but  not  quite  in  oil,  add  a  liaison  of  two 
yolks  of  eggs,  a  little  pepper,  salt,  and  the  juice  of  a  lemon,  mix  it 
quickly,  and  pour  over  the  fish  ;  serve  directly  and  very  hot.  The 
fish  must  be  kept  as  white  as  possible.  For  the  above  purpose  the 
Halibut  should  not  exceed  eight  pounds  in  weight. 

Halibut  d  la  gratin  Provcncale. 

This  dish  is  made  from  fish  left  from  a  previous  dinner.  Fut  two 
tablespoonsful  of  chopped  onions,  and  two  of  chopped  mushrooms  into 
ti  stew-pan  with  two  tablespoonsful  of  salad  oil ;  place  it  over  a  mode- 
rate fire  five  minutes,  stirring  it  with  a  wooden  spoon  ;  then  add  three 
pints  of  brown  sauce,  and  reduce  it  one-third,  then  add  a  clove  of 
scraped  garlic,  a  teaspoonful  of  Harvey  sauce,  one  of  essence  of  an- 
chovy, a  little  sugar,  a  little  cayenne,  and  two  yolks  of  eggs,  pour  a 
little  sauce  on  the  dish  you  serve  it  on,  then  a  layer  of  fish  lightly 


APPENDIX. C. 


349 


seasoned  with  pepper  and  salt,  then  more  sauce  and  fish  again,  finish- 
ing with  sauce ;  sprinkle  bread-crumbs  over  it  and  place  it  in  a  mode- 
rate oven  half-an-hour,  or  till  it  is  very  hot  through,  brown  it  lightly 
with  the  salamander  and  serve  very  hot.  The  garlic  may  be  omitted 
if  objected  to,  but  it  would  lose  the  flavor  from  which  it  .'s  named. 


HOW    TO    COOK    FLOUNDERS. 

Soyer's  Receipt  for  Flounder  en  matelote  Normande. 

Cut  the  fins  off  a  fine  fresh  Flounder,  and  make  an  incision  down 
the  back  close  to  the  bone,  in  which  put  some  force-meat  of  fish,  well 
seasoned  with  chopped  eschalots  and  parsley,  then  butter  a  saute-pan 
very  lightly,  and  put  a  teaspoonful  of  chopped  eschalots  into  it  Avith 
two  glasses  of  white  wine ;  lay  the  Flounder  into  it  and  season  with  a 
little  pepper  and  salt,  then  cover  it  with  some  bechamel  sauce,  and 
put  it  into  a  moderate  oven  for  about  twenty  minutes  or  half  an  hour 
— but  try  whether  it  is  done  with  a  skewer — brown  it  lightly  with  the 
salamander ;  then  take  up  the  Flounder,  dish  it  without  a  napkin,  and 
make  the  sauce  as  follows :  put  six  spoonsful  of  white  sauce  in  the 
saute-pan  with  six  ditto  of  milk,  let  it  boil,  four  minutes,  keeping  it 
stirred,  then  add  one  dozen  oysters  blanched,  one  dozen  quenelles  of 
whiting,  one  dozen  mushrooms,  half  a  teaspoonful  of  essence  of  ancho- 
vies, and  four  tablespoonsful  of  cream,  with  a  little  cayenne  pepper 
and  sugar ;  pour  the  sauce  over  and  round  the  fish,  pass  the  salaman- 
der again  over  it,  and  garnish  round  with  fried  bread  cut  in  small  tri- 
angles. The  sauce  may  be  passed  through  a  tammie  before  the  gar- 
niture is  added,  if  required.  Fried  smelts  are  frequently  served  as 
garniture  around  it. 

Flounder  a  la  Poltaise. 

Trim  a  fine  Flounder  and  make  an  incision  down  the  back,  clearing 
the  meat  from  the  bone,  then  melt  two  ounces  of  butter,  and  mix  with 
it  a  teaspoonful  of  chopped  eschalots,  one  of  chopped  mushrooms,  one 
of  chopped  parsley,  and  a  glass  of  sherry ;  put  the  Flounder  in  a  dish, 
and  pour  the  butter,  etc.,  over  it ;  sprinkle  a  few  bread-crumbs  on  it, 
and  put  it  in  the  oven  twenty  minutes  or  half  an  hour  ;  when  done, 
pour  a  little  anchovy  sauce  over  it,  and  brown  it  lightly  with  the  sala- 
mander. 


350 


APPENDIX. C. 


Flounder  aux  fines  herbes. 

Boil  a  Flounder — if  the  Flounder  is  very  fresh  it  may  be  put  in  boil- 
ing water,  but  it  is  best  to  let  it  only  simmer — in  sal t-aud- water,  and 
dish  it  without  a  napkin ;  have  ready  the  following  sauce :  put  in  a 
stew-pan  six  teaspoonsful  of  chopped  onions  and  a  piece  of  butter,  fry 
the  onions  a  light  brown,  then  add  eight  tablespoonsful  of  brown  sauce, 
and  let  it  boil  at  the  corner  of  the  stove  ten  minutes,  then  add  a  tea- 
spoonful  of  chopped  mushrooms,  half  ditto  of  chopped  parsley,  one 
ditto  of  essence  of  anchovies,  and  the  juice  of  a  quarter  of  a  lemon ; 
pour  it  over  the  fish  and  serve.  This  sauce  must  be  rather  thick,  but 
not  too  much  so. 


HOW    TO    COOK    HADDOCK. 

Soyer^s  Receipt  for  common  Haddock,  plain. 

This  is  a  very  serviceable,  light,  wholesome  fish,  and  may  be  ob- 
tained, like  Soles  or  Whitings,  at  any  time  of  the  year  ;  to  dress  them 
plain,  put  them  in  boiling  water  well  salted,  and  let  them  simmer  about 
twenty  minutes,  or  according  to  the  size,  dress  on  a  napkin,  and  serve 
shrimp  sauce  in  a  boat. 

Haddock  a  la  Walter  Scott. 

Put  two  tablespoonsful  of  chopped  onions,  one  ditto  of  Harvey 
sauce,  one  ditto  of  catsup,  one  ditto  of  sherry,  and  twenty  ditto  of 
melted  butter  into  a  middling-sized  stew-pan,  place  it  over  the  fire  and 
let  it  boil  fifteen  minutes,  keeping  it  stirred,  then  have  ready  a  good- 
sized  Haddock,  cut  in  four  pieces,  put  it  into  the  stew-pan  with  the 
sauce,  place  it  over  a  slow  fire  for  twenty  minutes,  or  longer  if  neces- 
sary; when  done,  dress  it  on  a  dish  without  a  napkin ;  reduce  the  sauce 
a  little  more  if  required,  then  add  a  little  sugar  and  essence  of  an- 
chovy, pour  it  over  the  fish  and  serve. 

"         \ 
Fillets  of  Haddock  a  la  St.  Paul. 

Fillet  your  fish  the  same  as  a  Whiting,  dip  the  fillets  in  flour,  egg, 
and  bread-crumb,  and  fry  in  hot  lard,  or  oil,  in  a  saut6-pan,  dress 
them  on  a  napkin,  garnish  with  fried  water-cress,  and  serve  with  two 
ounces  of  anchovy  butter  melted,  but  not  boiled,  in  a  boat. 


APPENDIX. — C. 


351 


Fillets  of  Haddock  d  la  Hollandaise. 

Fillet  your  fish  as  above,  and  proceed  as  for  fillets  of  Whiting  a  la 
Hollandaise. 


HOW    TO    COOK    WIIITrNGS. 

Soyefa  Receipt  for  Whitings,  to  fry  them. 

Every  person  knows  the  delicacy  of  this  fish,  and  its  lightness  as 
food,  especially  invalids ;  it  is  generally  well  received  at  all  tables :  to 
fry  them  well,  dry  them  in  a  cloth,  then  throw  them  in  flour,  egg  and 
bread-crumb,  fry  them  in  hot  lard,  observing  the  directions  for  frying 
Soles ;  serve  them  on  a  napkin  with  shrimp-sauce  in  a  boat,  and  gar 
nish  with  parsley. 

Whiting  au  gralin. 

Have  the  Whitings  skinned,  with  their  tails  turned  into  their  mouths ; 
butter  a  saute-pan  and  put  in  the  Whitings,  with  a  tablespoonful  of 
chopped  onions  and  four  tablespoonsful  of  brown  sauce  over  each ; 
sprinkle  bread-crumbs  over  them,  and  a  little  clarified  butter,  and  put 
them  in  a  moderate  oven  half  an  hour ;  take  them  out  and  dress  them 
on  a  dish  without  a  napkin ;  then  put  twelve  tablespoonsful  more 
brown  sauce  into  the  saut^-pan,  with  a  teaspoonful  of  chopped  mush- 
rooms, one  ditto  chopped  parsley,  one  ditto  essence  of  anchovy,  a 
little  pepper,  salt,  and  sugar,  boil  ten  minutes,  pour  round  the  fish, 
and  pass  the  salamander  over  them. 

Whitings  broiled. 

Have  the  fish  skinned  and  curled  round,  flour  it,  and  lay  it  on  the 
gridiron  over  a  moderate  flro  ;  it  will  take  about  twenty  minutes ;  dish 
it  on  a  napkin,  garnish  with  parsley,  and  serve  plain  melted  butter  in 
ii  boat.     Season  when  near  done. 

Whitings  boiled  d  la  Mattre  d^Hdtel. 

Broil  the  flsh  as  above,  dish  them  without  a  napkin,  have  six  table- 
spoonsful of  melted  butter  in  a  stew-pan,  put  it  to  boil,  then  add  two 
ounces  ot  maitre  d'hdtcl  butter,  siir  it  till  it  is  melted,  but  do  not  let 
it  boil,  and  pour  over  the  flsh. 


352 


APi'UNVlX. C. 


Fillets  of  Whilingt  fried. 

Take  the  fillets  of  six  small  Whitings  which  have  not  been  skinned, 
dip  them  in  flour,  egg,  and  bread-crumb  them,  and  fry  in  very  hot 
[ard ;  garnish  with  fried  parsley,  and  serve  with  sauce  Hollandaise  in 
a  boat. 

Fillets  of  Whitings  tL  la  Hollandaise. 

Fillet  six  Whitings  as  above,  cut  them  in  halves,  then  butter  a  saut^- 
pan,  and  lay  in  the  fillets,  skin  side  downwards ;  season  with  a  little 
pepper,  salt,  and  lemon-juice,  place  them  over  a  slow  fire  five  minutes, 
turn  them  and  place  them  again  on  the  fire  ;  when  done,  dish  them 
round  on  a  dish,  and  pour  some  sauce  Hollandaise  over  them 

Fillets  of  Whi  'ings  d  Vltalienne. 

Fillet  and  dress  the  fish  as  in  the  last,  adding  chopped  parsley  to 
tho  seasoning,  and  raake  the  sauce  as  for  Filets  de  Soles  k  I'ltalienne. 

Whiting  d  VHuile. 

Fry  the  Whiting  in  very  hot  salad  oil,  instead  of  lard,  of  a  very 
light  brown  color  ;  dish  it  on  a  napkin,  garnish  with  fried  parsley,  and 
serve  shrimp-sauce  in  a  boat 


r, 


SUPPLEMENT 


to 


FRANK    FORESTER'S 


f  i  s  I     a  11  ir     fishing. 


BY 


HENRY    VVn-LIAM    HERBERT. 


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I  \\V.\t  i'.\l.viKW  fU(  Kt  k. 

•2.  PK\C0«;K  ('.\!..,1!  W  HACkl.K. 

y.  i!i,.\(:K  '•it.Vh.H  I  vi-viKu. 

4.  YKI  r.OVr  !  \l,.MKH  It  \i  V.\.%.. 

A  UI,Ai,K  I'ALMK.ll  HA'  M.l.. 


fl.     HI,  \CK.  I'M,MV.IC  lIAi  Kr.K,  Uilibci! 


7.  (iUl-.KN    UKAKK,  Oil  MA^    fl.k. 

8.  (.HKY  DHMvP,,  Oil   MAV  KI.Y. 
fl.  <<»VV  1)1  NG. 

II)  IIKK  1-I.V 

II  tlLACK  (iNAT 

1?.  I1A1!!:'.'.S  l.All 


1.1.  <  IX. K  TAII. 

14.  vvn!ui.iN<j  m  s 

U  KJNUlViJ'Vl  tXV. 

Ifr  -VHlTEtiNAT, 

17.  lU.IK  UlN. 

18.  RF.D  ANT. 

lit.  UOLI)  .SI'IN.M'.l: 

ao.  uiiri  K  .MOTii. 

;i  <.i(iVKUNOH 

U2.  .M  Mil  II   UllOU'.V 

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INDEX  TO  PLATE  OF  FLIES 


I.  RKD  PALMEU  HAt  KLK. 

■i.  I'EACOCK  PALMKR  HACKLK. 

3.  BLACK  SILVER  PALMER. 

4.  YELLOW  PALMER  HACKLE. 
A.  BLACK  PALMER  HACKLE. 


6.    BLACK  PALMER  HACKLE,  Ribbcil 
with  Gold. 


7.  GREEN  DRAKE,  OR  MAV  ELY. 

8.  GREY  DRAKE,  OR  MAY  FLY. 

9.  COW  DUNG. 
10.  BEE  FLY 

U.  BLACK  GNAT. 

19.  HAKES  EAR. 


IX  COCK  TAIL. 

14.  WHIRLLNG  DL  N. 

14.  KLNGOOM  FLY. 

16.  WHITE  GNAT. 

17.  BLUE  DUN. 

18.  RED  ANT. 

19.  GOLD  SPINNEK. 
aO.  WHITE  MOTH, 
ai.  GOVERNOR. 

33.  MARCH  BROWN 
as.  STONE  FLY. 

34.  WILLOW  FI.Y 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS. 


Oiv  coining  to  revise  the  body  of  this  work  for  a  new  edition,  it 
was  found,  as  might  naturally  be  expected  in  a  book  embracing  so 
large  a  field,  that  some  errors  had  crept  in,  of  commission,  but  yet 
more  of  omission ;  that  some  opinions  with  regard  to  fishes,  unknown 
to  the  writer  through  his  own  observation,  quoted  from  others,  are,  as 
verified  by  his  own  experience,  incorrect ;  and  that  some  few  things 
stated  as  facts,  when  tried  by  the  same  test,  are  incorrect. 

To  set  these  right  in  the  body  of  the  work,  would  have  rendered  it 
necessary  to  reprint  and  re-stereotype  the  whole  volume ;  as,  by  the 
insertion  of  new  matter,  the  paging  would  have  been  all  thrown  out  of 
order,  and  many  whole  pages  would  have  been  entirely  destroyed, 
merely  in  order  to  rectify  a  single  word. 

1  have  therefore  judged  it  best  to  throw  what  new  information  I 
have  gained,  into  the  form  of  a  Supplement ;  embodying  therein  the 
correction  of  all  erroneous  opinions  which,  through  want  of  informa- 
tion, or  misinformation,  I  have  fallen  into  ;  and  adding  farther  instruc- 
tions with  regard  to  the  implements,  and  the  art  of  angling. 

On  Trolling  for  Lake  Trout,  and  on  Fishing  with  the  Fly,  very  con- 
siderable additions  will  be  found  in  this  edition  ;  as  well  as  a  Table  ex- 
plaining the  seasons,  bait,  &c.,  of  the  principal  salt-water  fishes  of 
our  waters. 

1  had  hoped  to  have  been  able  to  insert  some  information  concern- 


368 


INTRODUCTORY    REMARKS. 


ing  the  more  interesting  sea-fish  of  the  Southern  States ;  but  having 
waited  as  long  as  it  was  possible,  for  a  number  of  specimens  of  which 
I  had  a  promise  from  a  friend  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  1  am 
very  reluctantly  compelled  to  go  to  press  without  that  advantage,  and 
am  precluded  from  doing  much  more  than  naming  what  I  learn  to 
be  the  best  and  gamest  of  the  southern  species. 

In  this  Supplement,  I  shall  adhere  to  the  plan  adoptod  in  the  Vol- 
ume, of  dividing  it  into  two  parts,  one  treating  of  the  structure,  habits, 
and  classification  of  the  fishes ;  the  other  of  the  implements,  the  ma- 
terials, and  the  art  of  angling. 

The  Salmon  family  will  claim — as  of  the  Volume  itself,  so  of  the 
Supplement  also — the  larger  portion.  Of  this  interesting  group,  the 
proper  Salmons,  I  have  herein  inserted  descriptions  of  six  new  species 
peculiar  to  the  Columbia  and  other  rivers  of  the  Pacific  coast,  now 
growing  into  so  great  importance ;  and  of  the  sub-genus  Coregonus,  of 
the  same  group,  I  have  two  new  varieties  from  the  north-western  lakes. 
Concerning  the  several  varieties  of  Lake  Trout,  I  have  cause  materi- 
ally to  modify  opinions  expressed  heretofore ;  and  have  succeeded  in 
collecting  much  new  information  as  to  their  habits,  quality,  instincts, 
and  the  mode  of  capturing  them. 

To  the  various  friends  who  have  assisted  me  with  advice,  informa- 
tion, and  friendly  criticism,  I  take  this  opportunity  of  again  express- 
ing my  gratitude,  and  of  putting  it  on  record  how  much  is  due  to  them 
of  the  increased  value  of  this  edition. 


I 

1     , 


PAKT   I. 

TUB 

GAME   FISHES 

OF 

Inrtji  Mmu. 


f  jiB  Samt  fh^tn  ni  aninirn, 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERYUll. 


SALMONIDiG. 


THE  SALMON. 


THE  COMMON  SALMON — THE  TRUE  SALMON. 


Sabno  Salar;  Auctorum. 

I  STATED  in  the  body  of  this  work,  that  tho  True  Salmon  was  wont, 
in  former  years,  to  run  up  into  Seneca,  Cayuga,  and  others  of  the 
small  lakes  of  central  New  York,  and  expressed  a  doubt  whether  it 
was  not  now  prevented  from  doing  so,  by  the  obstructions  in  the  Os- 
wego river. 

In  the  course  of  a  visit  to  that  interesting  region,  during  the  past 
autumn,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  verifying  this  doubt ;  and  I  found,  as 
indeed  I  cspsctcd,  that  tho  True  Salmon  has  ceased  to  exist  in  those 
beautiful  waters. 

It  is  with  great  pleasure,  however,  that  I  lay  before  my  readers  an 
enactment  for  the  preservation  of  that  noble  fish,  just  passed  by  the 
Supervisors  of  the  county  of  Oswego,  in  conformity  with  the  act  of  the 
State  Legislature,  committing  the  care  of  Game,  and  the  passing  of 
Game  laws,  to  those  Boards  throughout  the  country. 

This  act  is  precisely  what  it  should  be,  and  reflects  the  highest 
credit  on  the  liberality,  wisdom,  and  energy  of  the  Board  which  en- 
acted it.  I  only  regret  that  its  provisions  extend  only  to  a  single 
river ;  but  I  trust  that  this  defect  will  bo  amended,  and  that  the  Os- 
wego River,  and  the  Seneca,  Cayuga,  and  other  outlets  will  receive  the 
same  privilege,  which  would  doubtless  lead  to  the  speedy  re-establish- 
ment of  the  Salmon  in  those  lovely  and  limpid  waters : 
24 


862 


AMERICAN    F1SHE6. 


LAW  FOR  THE  PRESERVATION  OF  SALMON. 


FUDLISIIED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  8UFERVIB0RB.  < 


\ 


An  Act  for  the  preservation  of  Salmon  in  the  Salmon  River  and  Lake  Ontario  con* 
tiguous  thereto: — Passed  Dec.  12th,  1836. 

The  Board  of  Supervisors  of  the  County  of  Oswego,  convened  at  Pulaski,  in  the 
Naid  county,  do  enact  as  follows : 

§  ].  It  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  person  to  fish  for,  catch,  or  take,  any  Salmon, 
With  any  net,  st  :ie,  weir,  of  any  kind  or  description,  in  any  of  the  waters  of  the 
Salmon  River  in  said  county,  or  in  the  waters  of  Lake  Ontario,  within  one  mile  of 
the  mouth  of  said  river,  between  il. '  first  day  of  April  and  the  twentieth  day  of  Oc- 
tober, in  any  year  after  the  passage  of  this  act.  And  any  person  ofTcnding  herciti, 
shall,  for  every  such  offVnce,  forfeit  ai.d  pay  the  sum  of  one  hundred  dollars,  to  bo 
recovered  by  action,  with  the  costs  of  suits,  by  and  for  the  use  of  any  person  who 
will  prosecute  for  the  same  before  any  justice  of  the  peace  in  and  for  the  said  county 
of  Oswego. 

§  2  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  .^almon  so  caught  and  taken  in  any  of 
the  v/aters  aforesaid,  in  violation  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  together  with  any 
seine,  net,  weir,  or  traps  so  used  or  set  for  use,  in  violation  of  this  ajt  as  aforesaid, 
sliall  be  forfeited  to  and  may  be  immediately  taken  into  possession  of,  and  carried 
away,  by  any  person  who  shall  find  said  net,  seine,  weir,  or  trap,  while  so  used  or 
set  for  use  as  aforesaid ;  and  such  person  may  and  he  is  hereby  authorised  to  keep, 
sell  or  otherwise  dispose  of  the  same  for  his  own  use  and  benefit,  as  to  him  may 
seem  fit  and  proper.  And  any  such  weir  or  trap  which  shall  be  affixed  to  any  dam 
or  other  obstructions  in  any  of  the  waters  of  Salmon  River,  or  which  shall  be  set  or 
secured  to  the  bottom  of  said  river  or  lake  aforesaid,  shall  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby 
adjudged  a  public  nuisance,  and  may  be  abated  by  any  person  summarily  without 
process  of  la  v.  other  than  the  provisions  of  this  act. 

§  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  owner  or  owners  of  mill  or  other  dams 
which  are  now  erected  across  the  said  Salmon  River,  or  any  branch  or  channel 
thereof,  so  as  to  obstruct  the  usual  course  of  the  Salmon  in  going  up  said  river,  who 
shall  not,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  June,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  fifty,  have  altered  such  dam  by  constructing  an  apron  or  slope  on  the  lower  side 
thereof,  extending  from  the  top  of  said  dam  to  the  bottom  of  the  river  below,  said 
apron  or  slope  to  be  not  less  than  twenty  feet  wide,  with  a  smooth  and  even  sur- 
face, and  sloping  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees  with  the  horizon,  and  to  be  loca- 
ted in  or  as  near  to  the  main  channel  of  the  river  as  circumstances  will  permit,  so 
that  Salmon  may  freely  pass  into  the  waters  above  such  dam,  shall  respectively 
forfeit  and  pay  to  the  town  in  which  such  dam  is  located,  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
dollars,  twenty-five  dollars  of  which  to  be  paid  to  the  complainant,  and  the  remnin- 
ing  sum  of  seventy-five  dollars  to  be  appropriated  to  the  support  of  the  poor  of  such 


SALMON.DJE. 


/ 


803 


town,  and  to  be  received  by  the  overseer  or  overseers  of  the  poor  thereof,  in  the 
mimner  provided  for  in  the  first  section  of  this  act.  And  in  case  such  dam  siiali  not 
have  been  so  altered  within  the  time  above-mentioned,  such  dam  shall  be  adjudged 
a  public  nuisance,  and  may  be  abated  in  the  same  manner  as  is  provided  in  the 
second  section  of  th  s  act.  And  further,  that  any  mill  or  other  dam  which  shall  bo 
hereafter  erected  across  said  river,  or  any  branch  or  channel  thereof,  ehull  be  con- 
structed with  an  apron  or  slope  as  aforesaid.  And  any  owner  or  owners  of  such 
dam,  which  shall  be  hereafter  constructed  across  said  river  as  aforesaid,  who  shall 
neglect  or  refuse  to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  this  section,  shall  resptctively  for- 
feit the  same  penally,  to  be  prosecuted  for,  received  and  ap(.lied,  as  is  herein  before 
provided  in  this  section. 

§  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  person  to  fieh 
for,  catch,  or  take  Salmon,  while  passing  over  such  aprons  or  slopes,  or  within  the 
distance  of  four  rods  of  said  slopes,  aprons  or  dam  ;  And  any  person  ofi'ending  herein, 
shall  forfeit  and  pay  the  sum  of  twenty-five  dollars,  to  be  recovered  and  applied  in 
the  manner  provided  for  in  and  by  the  first  section  of  this  act. 

§  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  nothing  contained  in  the  first  three  sections 
of  this  not,  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prevent  the  fishing  for,  catching,  or  taking 
Salmon  with  a  spear,  in  the  waters  aforesaid,  by  the  owner  or  owners,  lessee  or  les- 
sees, and  their  lawfully  authorized  agents  of  the  lands  over  which  the  waters  of  said 
river  flow,  or  adjoining  the  waters  of  Lake  Ontario  aforesaid. 

§  6.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  this  act  shall  take  effect  on  the  first  day  of 
January,  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty. 

A.  L.  Thomason,  Chairman. 


ler  dams 
channel 
rer,  who 
Ihundred 
kver  side 
low,  said 
,'en  sur- 
be  loca- 
;rmit,  so 
)ectively 
Ihundred 
remain - 
of  such 


I  earnestly  recommend  the  passage  of  similar  laws  to  this,  by  the 
Legislatures  of  the  various  Eastern  States,  especially  by  that  of  Maine, 
in  reference  to  every  river  eastward,  at  least,  of  the  mouth  of  the  Ken- 
nebeck,  as  the  only  method  by  which  the  speedily  approaching  extinc- 
tion of  the  Salmon  can  be  prevented. 

I  have  no  doubt,  however,  that  if  the  same  law  were  passed  by  tho 
Legislatures  of  Connecticut  and  New  York,  with  regard  to  the  fin;^ 
river  which  gives  name  to  that  first  State,  and  to  the  noble  Hudson, 
coupled  with  an  absolute  prohibition  to  take  or  destroy  the  Salmon  for 
the  space  of  five  years,  that  this,  the  king  of  fishes,  might  be  re-intro- 
duced into  those  waters,  by  the  adoption  of  the  simple  method  des- 
cribed at  page  60  et  sequentes  of  this  volume. 

And  I  take  this  opportunity  of  stating,  that  I  have  good  hope  of  ma- 
king such  arrangements  as  will  enable  me  to  procure,  in  this  coming 
spring,  such  supplies  of  the  Salmon  fry,  in  the  state  which  admits  of 


364 


AMERICAN    FI8HEC. 


their  transportation  from  Nova  Scotia,  as  will  suffice  to  establish  the 
possibility  of  the  undertaking.  It  is  my  intention,  should  I  succeed 
in  obtaining  any  support  or  encouragement  from  the  Legislature  of 
New  Jersey,  to  make  the  experiment  in  the  tributaries  of  the  Passaic ; 
and  should  it  be  successful,  1  can  only  add  that  it  will  give  me  but  too 
much  pleasure  to  assist  any  gentleman  of  spirit  in  procuring  the  mean? 
of  restocking  any  waters  on  which  they  may  resido,  with  this  most 
:!auie  and  noblest  of  fishes. 


SALMONIDA. 


366 


AHDOMINAL 
MAIiACOPTERYOII. 


^ALMONIDif:. 


THE  BROOK  TROUT. 

THE    COMMON    TROUT. 

Salmo  Fontinalia;  DeKay. 

With  regard  to  this  very  beautiful  and  excellent  fish,  I  have  very 
little  to  add  to  what  is  recorded  in  the  former  part  of  this  volume,  at 
page  86  et  seq. 

I  have  ascertained,  however,  as  a  fact,  what  I  mentioned  there  as  a 
mere  surmise,  that  in  some  places  and  on  some  occasions  the  Brook 
Trout  of  America  are  taken  of  a  very  much  larger  size  than  is  gene- 
rally imagined. 

At  the  Sault  St.  Marie,  which  I  visited  this  autumn,  although  too 
late  for  Trout-fishing  in  its  perfection,  the  average  run  of  fish  is  ex- 
ceedingly large ;  as  also  in  the  Garden  River,  which  falls  into  the  St. 
Mary's,  a  few  miles  below  the  beautiful  rapid  I  have  mentioned. 

Three  and  four  pounds  is  by  no  means  an  unusual  weight ;  but  the 
most  important  fact  is  this,  that  some  years  since,  the  commandant  of 
the  United  States'  Fort,  at  the  Sault,  oflFered  a  reward  to  any  Indian 
who  should  bring  in  a  Brook  Trout  of  len  pounds^  weight.  The  result 
was,  that  many  were  brought  in  of  six  and  seven  pounds  and  upward, 
and  at  last  one  monster  which  actually  weighed  eleven  pounds  and 
some  ounces. 

There  is  no  question  about  this  fact,  or  of  its  being  actually  a  red- 
spotted  Brook  Trout,  as  distinguished  from  the  Namaycush  or  Siska- 
witz ;  for  the  whole  afiair  originated  from  a  desire  to  investigate  and 
ascertain  the  fact  of  natural  history,  on  the  part  of  the  distinguished 
officer  in  question,  and  the  fish  was  submitted  to  a  thorough  scrutiny 
and  scientific  examination  before  the  premium  was  awarded. 

The  quostion  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  settled,  that,  in  favorable 
situations  and  psculiar  waters,  the  Brook  Trout  grows  to  a  size  much 
larger  than  is  usually  supposed  to  be  its  utmost  limit,  possibly  even  up 


300 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


to  firteen  or  twenty  pounds,  though  tho  average  of  the  fish  is  undenia- 
lly  bolow  a  pound. 

There  can,  I  aui  now  satisfied,  bo  no  doubt  that  the  very  largo  red- 
tpotted  fish  described  by*Dr.  Smith,  under  tho  title  of  Jlucho,  as  ex- 
isting in  ntany  of  the  lakes  of  New  England,  is  nothing  more,  as  I 
surmised  in  the  first  instance,  than  an  enormous  and  overgrown  Brook 
Trout,  very  largo  specimens  of  which  are  constantly  brought  into  the 
Boston  markets  from  tho  interior  of  New  Hampshire.  The  wonderful 
effect  of  different  waters  on  the  growth,  coloring  and  flavor  of  fish  has 
been  already  mentioned  ;  and  I  shall  have  yet  more  to  say  on  thb  sub- 
ject when  I  come  to  speak  of  the  Lake  Trout. 

1  will  only  here  farther  observe,  that  on  recent  information  from  an 
undoubted  authority,  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  I  have  overestima- 
ted the  average  weight  of  the  Brook  Trout  taken  in  Carman's  Creek 
on  Long  Island  ;  a  very  highly  accomplished  angler,  who  fishes  those 
waters  constantly,  having  assured  me  that  tho  average  is  not  now  above 
three-fourths  of  a  pound.  There  is  no  question,  that  in  waters  so 
assiduously  whipped  as  those  of  Long  Island,  not  only  the  number  but 
the  .size  of  Trout  must  necessarily  decrease.  For  farther  instruction 
on  Fly-fishing,  &c.,  I  must  now  refer  my  reader  to  tho  Second  Part  of 
this  Supplement,  where  he  will  find,  I  trust,  all  that  may  be  necessary 
to  supply  what  was  omitted  above,  both  as  regards  doctrine  and  prac 
tice,  art  and  implements,  necessary  for  the  gentle  craft. 


SALMONID.E. 


3U7 


AUDOMINAL 
MALAUOlTEnVOII. 


SALHONIDiG 


THE   GREATEST   LAKE  TllOUT. 


MACKINAW    SALMON NAMAYCUSH. 


Salmo  Atnethyttua;  Mitchili  DeKay. — Salmo  Namaycuah ;  Pennant,  Richardaun. 


Op  this  fish — concerning  which,  in  the  body  of  the  work,  I  wrote 
chiefly  on  the  report  of  others— in  the  course  of  a  recent  tour  to  the 
upper  lakes,  I  had  ample  opportunities  of  judging.  I  saw  certainly 
hundreds  of  specimens,  none  below  seventeen  or  eighteen  pounds 
weight,  and  many  up  to  forty  and  forty-five.  They  are  so  abundant 
on  Lake  Huron  that  the  Indians  sell  them  willingly  for  a  quarter  of  a 
dollar  each,  without  reference  to  size. 

The  flesh  of  this  fish,  as  an  article  of  food,  is  exceedingly  bad  ;  it 
iH  coarse,  flabby,  and  at  once  rank  and  vapid,  when  fresh,  if  such  a 
combination  can  be  imagined.  On  one  occasion,  a  very  large  fish  of 
this  species  having  been  served  up  boiled  one  day,  and  pronounced, 
by  a  large  party  of  good  epicurean  judges,  less  than  indifferent,  a  por- 
tion was  dressed  cold  on  the  following  day  with  salad,  and  was  so 
insufferably  rank,  that  it  was  incontinently  sent  from  the  tabic  as  un- 
eatable. 

When  .salted  and  smoked,  or  preserved  in  salt  pickle,  it  is  somewbat 
bettor,  though  not  at  all  equal  to  its  sister  fish  the  Siskawitz. 

I  should  be  willing  to  assert  that  the  average  of  this  great  fish  is  fully 
up  to  twenty  pounds.  I  will  here  add,  that  I  have  reason  to  believe 
that  thi  opinion  hazarded  on  report  of  others,  that  the  Great  Macki- 
naw Trout  is  the  liveliest  of  his  species,  is  entirely  erroneous ;  and  that, 
from  all  the  inquiries  I  made  among  Indians,  hunters,  and  scientific 
anglers  on  the  lake,  I  am  inclined  to  disbelieve  that  this  or  the  next 
described  fish  can  be  taken  either  with  the  fly  or  the  spinning-minnow 
in  trolling.  If  ever  they  are  taken  in  either  of  these  modes,  or  with 
the  spoon  or  squid,  it  is  contrary  to  their  usual  habit ;  and  may  be  con- 
fiidered  a  freak  of  the  fish,  and  one  of  so  rare  occurrence  as  to  render 


308 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


it  a  very  unprofitable  attempt  for  the  angler  to  fish  for  thorn  by  any 
of  those  modes. 

A  ooarso,  heavy,  stiff  rod— a  long  and  powerful  oiled  hempen  or 
flaxen  line — on  a  largo  winch,  with  a  heavy  sinker,  a  cod-hook  baited 
with  any  kind  of  flesh,  fish,  or  fowl — but,  best  of  all,  with  a  piece  of  the 
belly  of  its  own  species,  is  the  most  successful  if  not  the  most  orthodox 
or  scientific  mode  of  capturing  him. 

Its  great  size  and  immense  strength  alone  give  him  value  as  a  fish 
of  game  ;  but  when  hooked,  ho  pulls  strongly  and  fights  hard,  though 
he  is  a  boring  deep  fighter,  and  I  think  never  leaps  out  of  water,  like 
the  True  Salmon  or  tho  Brook  Trout. 


«ALMOtflD£. 


36i) 


AUDOMINAI. 
MALACOPTERYUII 


SALMONIO.V. 


THE    SI8KAWITZ. 


NORTHERN    LAKE    TROUT. 


Salmo  Sitkawit* ;  AgHMis. 

This  fish,  liko  tho  former  species,  came  frequently  under  my  eye 
during  my  late  northern  tour ;  and  I  rcjoioo  in  the  possession  of  a 
barrel  of  him  in  his  pickled  state,  which  I  proourod  at  the  Sault  St. 
Marie,  on  tho  strength  of  which  I  can  recommend  him  to  all  lovers  of 
good  eating  as  tho  very  best  saltjish  that  exists  in  the  world. 

He  is  so  fat  and  rich,  that  when  eaten  fresh  he  is  insufferably  rank 
and  oily ;  but  when  salted  and  broiled,  after  being  steeped  for  forty- 
eight  hours  in  cold  water,  he  is  not  surpassed  or  equalled  by  any  fish 
with  which  I  am  acquainted. 

Since  my  return,  he  has  been  tasted  by  very  many  gentlemen  of  my 
ucquaintancss,  and  by  no  one  of  them  has  he  been  pvonouncud  any- 
thing less  than  superlative. 

His  habits  closely  resomble  those  of  the  Namaycush  ;  and  like  him 
I  cannot  learn  that  he  ever  takes  the  fly,  or  is  over  taken  by  trolling. 
I  do  not,  however,  believe  that  cither  of  these  methods  are  often  re- 
sorted to  for  his  capture,  although  there  are  many  scientific  fly-fishers 
about  the  Sault,  and  the  Brook  Trout  of  those  waters  are  principally 
taken  with  large  and  gaudy  lake-flios. 

Tho  average  weight  of  the  Siskawitz  does  not  exceed  four  or  five 
pounds,  though  he  is  taken  up  to  seventeen.  His  excellence  is  so  per- 
fectly understood  and  acknowledged  in  the  Lake  Country,  that  ho 
fetches  double  the  price  per  barrel  of  his  coarser  big  brother,  thj 
Namaycush ;  and  he  is  so  greedily  sought  for  there,  that  it  is  difficult 
to  procure  him  even  at  Detroit,  and  almost  impossible  at  Buffalo. 

1  believe  none  were  ever  brought  to  New  York,  previously  to  the  bar- 
rel which  I  brought  down  with  me  from  the  Sault.  I  am  now  able  to 
supply,  from  personal  inspection,  what  I  was  compelled  unavoidably  to 


zio 


AMERICAir    FISHES. 


omit  above,  the  number  of  rays  in  the  various  fins.  They  are  as  fol- 
lows : 

First  dorsal  twelve  branched  rays,  second  dorsal  adipose,  pectorals 
fifteen,  vcntrals  ten,  anal  nine,  and  caudal  twenty-one  perfect,  besides 
several  rudimental  branched  rays ;  in  all  of  which  it  differs  from  the 
Namaycush.  It  is,  I  think,  on  the  whole,  a  bluer  and  less  distinctly 
spotted  fish  than  the  Namaycush. 

As  a  sporting  fish,  it  is,  I  am  of  opinion,  of  small  value  ;  but  as  an 
article  of  cuisine — he  if  valuable,  or  rather,  and  that  not  hyperboli- 
cally,  invaluable. 


.    \ 


8ALM0NID.E. 


371 


ABDOMINAL 
.;    MALACOPTERycil. 


SALMONID^. 


:       "  THE  LAKE  TKOUT.  ! 

Salmo  Confinia ;  DeKay.  ■.  ■    *•• 

Concerning  no  fish  have  I  seen  occasion  so  greatly  to  alter  my  ex- 
pressed opinions — founded  chiefly  on  the  opinions  of  others,  and,  where 
original,  formed  from  examination  of  fish  taken  in  the  waters  of  the 
Eastern  States,  and  in  Lakes  George  and  Champlain,  in  none  of  which 
is  it  either  a  game  fish,  or  in  my  opinion  a  good  fish. 

I  still  doubt  greatly  whether  there  be  not  two  distinct  species  of 
Lake  Trout,  one  quite  peculiar  to  the  small  lakes  of  New  York.  Cer- 
tainly I  never  saw  or  tasted  any  Lake  Trout  similar  in  appearance,  or 
equal  in  fiesh  and  fiavor,  to  those  which  I  ate  at  Geneva,  and  which 
were  subsequently  sent  down  to  me  in  ice,  by  my  friend  Mr.  Mande- 
ville,  of  that  city.  < 

The  description  of  these  fish  exactly  tallies  with  the  account  of  the 
red-fleshed  Lake  Trout  of  Hamilton  county,  where  I  have  never  fished, 
being  deterred  therefrom  by  dread  of  that  curse  of  the  summer  angler, 
the  black  fly,  which  is  to  me  especially  venoraoas. 

A  letter  which  I  insert  below,  from  a  capital  angler,  who  has  caught 
this  fish  in  the  far-famed  Louis  Lake,  agrees  exactly  with  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  Seneca  Lake  Trout,  but  not  with  his  habits ;  as  I  have 
the  best  authority  for  stating  that  in  Seneca  Lake  they  are  never  taken 
either  by  the  fly  or  by  trolling ;  although  in  Crooked  Lake,  immedi- 
ately adjoining  it,  they  are  constantly  caught  by  trolling  for  them 
"  with  shiners  strung  upon  the  hook,  and  drawn  head  foremost,  with 
a  hook  leaded  to  sink  twenty  to  thirty  feet." 

In  Seneca  Lake  they  are  taken  on  set  lines,  varying  in  depth  from 
twenty-five  to  four  hundred  feet,  concerning  which  method  more  under 
the  head  of  Lake  Fisliing. 

The  following  is  r.n  accurate  description  of  one  of  the  fish  sent  to 
me  from  Seneca  Lake.     It  diff'ers,  as  will  be  seen,  in  many  respects, 


372 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


of  structure,  shape,  and  color,  from  the  account  quoted  at  page  117, 
from  Dr.  DeKay's  Fauna  of  New  York — almost  widely  enough,  in  ray 
opinion,  to  justify  its  erection  into  a  separate  species : 

Dental  system. — A  double  row  of  strong  hooked  teeth  on  the  labials 
and  palatines  of  the  upper  jaw.  The  vomer  perfectly  smooth  and 
toothless.  In  the  lower  jaw,  a  single  row  of  strong  hooked  teeth  on 
the  labials,  and  a  double  row  of  smaller  size  on  the  tongue. 

Branchiostegous  rays,  eleven  on  the  right  side,  thirteen  on  the  left. 

Pectoral  fin-rays  sixteen,  ventral  ten,  anal  twelve,  dorsal  thii'tcen, 
caudal  twenty-seven. 

In  all  these  respects  it  differs  from  DeKay's  Salmo  Confinis. 
Whole  length,  nineteen  and  a  half  inches.  Head,  four  inches  to  the 
lower  ma^n  of  the  interopcrculum.  Eye,  one  inch  and  a  half  from 
tip  of  snout.  Origin  of  the  ventral  fin,  nine  inches  and  a  quarter ;  of 
the  anal,  thirteen  ;  of  first  dorsal,  eight  and  a  half;  of  the  seconcT  dor- 
sal, fourteen,  from  the  tip  of  the  snout.  u 

Depth  of  the  fish  at  the  origin  of  first  dorsal,  three  inches  and  three- 
fifths  ;  breadth  of  back  two  inches. 

Curvature  of  the  belly  greater  than  that  of  the  dorsal  outline.  Color 
of  the  head  dark  bluish  black.  Irides  silvery,  gill-covers  silvery  with 
nacrous  reflections.  Back  and  sides,  above  the  lateral  line,  beautiful 
glossy  caerulean  blue,  mottled  with  bright  silvery  spots  of  the  size  of 
large  duck-shot ;  below  the  lateral  line  the  silvery  spots  are  larger,  and 
the  ground  lighter  blue ;  belly  pure  silver. 

Pectoral  fins  pale  yellowish  green,  ventrals  and  anal  greenish,  very 
faintly  tinged  with  red.  First  dorsal  greenish  transparent,  veined  with 
black ;  second  dorsal  silvery  grey,  slightly  mottled  ;  caudal  greenish 
grey,  mottled  with  black. 

A  very  beautifully  formed  fish,  more  tapering  than  the  Namaycush 
or  Siskawitz,  with  the  small  head,  and  much  both  of  the  form  and 
lustre  of  the  True  Sea  Salmon. 

Flesh  rich  orange  buff,  very  firm,  highly  flavored  and  delicate.  This 
fish,  and  another  rather  larger,  but  otherwise  exactly  agreeing  with 
this,  were  eaten  at  my  table  by  a  party  of  six  gentlemen,  as  good 
judges  of  good  eating  as  any  with  whom  I  am  acquainted,  and  were 
unanimously  pronounced  better  than  Brook  Trout !  better  than  True 
Salmon !  the  best  fish  in  the  world ! 


/■ 


SALMONID^. 


373 


Singularly  enough,  at  the  very  time  that  my  opinion  was  becoming 
changed  with  regard  to  this — I  now  think  excellent  fish,  I  received  a 
long  and  most  kind  letter  Arom  the  accomplished  fisherman  to  whom  I 
had  applied  for  information  in  regard  to  Hamilton  county  fishing,  dif- 
fering from  the  opinion  given  in  the  bulk  of  this  volume,  which  I  had 
just  before  discovered  to  be  faulty. 

I  have  no  hesitation  in  laying  this  verbatim  before  my  readers,  as  I 
have  no  doubt  it  is  thoroughly  correct  in  all  respects,  both  as  to  the 
habits  and  quality  of  the  Hamilton  county  Lake  Trout,  with  which  1 
am  satisfied  that  the  Lake  Seneca  variety  is  identical ;  the  variation 
in  the  habits  of  the  fish  in  the  different  localities  being  ascribable  to 
the  different  qualities  of  the  water  which  they  inhabit. 

The  average  weight  of  the  Lake  Trout  in  Seneca  Lake  is  much  as 
is  stated  by  my  kind  correspondent — that  is  to  say,  under  four  pounds, 
and  they  very  rarely  exceed  seven. 

This  letter  was  written  at  my  request,  for  the  purpose  of  pointing 
out,  commenting  upon,  and  correcting  any  errors  of  omission  or  com- 
mission which  he  had  discovered  in  my  work ;  and  I  can  only  express 
myself  equally  obliged  by  the  candor  and  kindness  of  the  criticism. 

Had  I  permission  to  give  the  name  of  the  writer,  I  am  well  aware 
tbat  in  every  angler's  opinion  it  would  add  immensely  to  the  value  of 
his  remarks  as  authority  ;  but  it  will  su£Q.ce  that  I  should  assert  that 
he  is,  of  my  own  knowledge,  one  of  the  best  fly-fishers  in  the  United 
States.  ■• 

.       ORIGINAL  COMMUNICATION  ON  THE  LAKE  TROUT. 


"  The  average  weight  is  eight  or  ten  pounds." 

This  is  an  extract  from  the  New  York  Fauna  of  Dr.  DeKay.  Now, 
I  venture  to  assert  that  Dr.  DeKay  never  wet  a  line  in  the  waters  of 
Hamilton  county,  and  that  "  the  propensity  to  exaggeration  in  every- 
thing in  relation  to  aquatic  animals,"  induced  his  informant  to  make 
the  above  statement.  I  boldly  assert  that  the  average  weight  of  Lake 
Trout  is  not  four  pounds.  ' 

An  eight  or  ten  pound  fish  is  considered  an  unusually  heavy  fish.  1 
will  give  you  my  experience.  In  May,  1848,  I  spent  eleven  days  in 
Hamilton  county,  in  company  with  a  friend,  and  that  friend  an  old 
Hamilton  county  troUer.      We  faithfully  fished  in  Lake  Pleasant. 


374 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


Round  Lake,  and  the  far-famed  Louis  Lake.  We  killed  about  two 
hundred  pounds'  weight  of  fish.  I  killed  one  of  sixteen  pounds,  one 
of  nine  pounds  and  a  quarter,  and  two  of  five  pounds  each.  My  friend 
did  not  kill  a  single  fish  heavier  than  three  pounds  and  three  quarters, 
neither  did  I,  save  those  just  mentioned ;  and  I  would  and  do  say,  that 
our  fish  did  not  average  three  pounds,  the  great  majority  being  two 
pounders. 

At  the  same  time  two  friends  fished  Piseco  Lake  and  Rackett  Lake ; 
the  heaviest  fish  killed  by  them  was  eleven  pounds ;  and  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  they  took  another  of  greater  weight  than  four  pounds ;  at  all 
events,  we  beat  them  all  to  smash  in  weight  and  number.  So  much 
for  the  average  weight.       i'        i       .    ^    ,"/'        '   'rr      ■>         --'     j> 

The  wholesale  assertion  on  your  118th  page,  that  they  never  rise  to 
the  fly,  should  be  qualified.  It  is  not  correct  that  they  "  never  rise  to 
the  fly."    They  frequently  do. 

The  nine  pound  and  a  quarter  Lake  Trout  above  referred  to,  was 
killed  by  me  with  an  artificial  fly.  Tlie  facts  are  these  : — On  the  28th 
of  May,  1848,  I  was  fishing  on  Louis  Lake.  I  Avas  using  a  trolling- 
rod  and  a  small  Trout-rod,  casting  with  one  and  trolling  with  the  other. 
Upon  my  troUing-leader  1  had  two  flies;  and  when  my  oarsman  was  in 
the  act  of  pulling  round  a  projecting  elbow  of  wood,  I  reeled  up,  to 
avoid  contact  with  a  fallen  tree,  and  just  as  my  first  fly  trailed  on  the 
surface  of  the  water,  the  fish  broke  or  rather  dashed  at  it ;  I  struck 
him  instantly,  and  away  he  went,  with  so  much  velocity  that  I  had 
hard  work  to  keep  my  line  from  overrunning,  not  having  a  click-reel ; 
I  fortunately  thumbed  the  reel,  and  passed  my  Trout-rod  to  the  oars- 
man, and  then  had  fair  play ;  and  I  assure  you  I  never  had  hold  of  a 
fish  of  the  same  size,  that  showed  more  game,  power  or  endurance.  He 
never  sulked  for  an  instant ;  and  the  only  diff"erence  which  I  could 
discover  in  his  mode  of  action  from  a  Salmon,  was  that  after  bein^ 
struck,  he  did  not  show  himself,  or  leap.  Had  I  hooked  this  fish  with 
my  light  rod,  I  would  not  have  killed  him  under  an  hoar  ;  and,  ind3ed 
as  it  was,  he  was  not  "  half  gone  "  when  Cowles,  my  guide,  put  tho 
gaiF  into  him.  This  fish  rose  in  about  eight  feet  water,  and  took  me. 
twenty-five  minutes  to  kill  him  ;  and  I  never  worked  harder  in  my  life 
to  secure  a  fish,  for  you  may  imagine  that  I  was  anxious  to  secure  & 
Lake  Trout,  hooked  as  I  have  described.       - 


SALMONIDiE. 


376 


On  the  sanio  page,  you  quote  from  Dr.  DoKny,  that  this  Trout  has 
"  the  coarseness  of  the  Halibut,  without  its  flavor ;"  and  subsequently 
assert,  as  your  own  opinion,  "  that  this  is  the  most  worthless  of  all  the 
non-migratory  species."  I  think  that  you  are  mistaken — ray  reasons 
presently.  On  page  274  to  270,  you  also  usj  the  following  expres- 
sions :  ''  Th3S3  great,  bad  and  unsporting  fish,"  &c.,  *'  with  a  bullet  at 
the  end  of  two  hundred  yards  of  linj,  run  rapidly  through  the  wa- 
ter."   "  He  is  very  indiffurcni  eating." 

I  disagres  with  you.  "  Every  man  to  his  taste."  "  What's  one 
luan's  meat  is  another  man's  poison."  I  prefer  a  Lake  Trout  to  the 
best  Brook  Trout — donH  faugh  I  Now  for  my  proof.  To  my  know- 
ledge, Lake  Trout  are  preferred  at  John  C.  Holmes',  the  proprietor 
of  Lako  Pleasant  House,  to  anything  you  can  lay  on  the  table.  The 
nine  pound  "and  a  quarter  Trout  to  which  I  have  before  alluded,  was 
eaten  in  this  city,  at  the  house  of  a  mutual  friend  of  ours,  and  was  de- 
clared to  be  a  glorious  morsel,  The  sixteen  pound  and  a  half  Trout 
was  eaten  at  a  friend's  house  in  Hroadwny;  s  ivcntcon  persons,  myself 
among  them,  partook  of  it,  and  I  never  heard  anything  surpass  the 
praise  of  all;  and  for  myself,  let  mo  say,  that  I  never  tasted  a  finer 
fish.  He  was  boiled  and  eaten  with  plain  drawn  butter,  or  as  house- 
keepers and  cooks  call  it,  I  believe, "  parsley  and  butter ;"  and  during 
my  sojourn  in  the  woods,  my  friend  and  myself  invariably  preferred 
and  had  the  small  Lake  Trout  cooked  by  our  guides.  If  it  be  "  very 
indifferent  eating,"  then  I  am  cosily  pleased,  and  every  person  with 
whom  1  have  spoken  on  the  subject  arc  no  judges  of  fish  flesh. 

Have  you  fished  for  Lako  Trout  in  Hamilton  county .'  I  presume 
not,  for  most  assuredly  you  labor  under  a  mistake  as  to  the  "  modtis 
operandi^ 

Your  instruction  on  lines,  9,  10,  11,  page  274,  is  incorrect,  and 
tends  to  lead  the  novice  a.ftray.  Our  friend  of  the  "  Spirit "  is  much 
nearer  the  mark,  but  the  instruction  is  defective,  as  you  have  quoted 
it.  1  believe  that  no  portion  of  your  work  was  more  anxiously  looked 
for,  than  your  views,  direction  and  instruction  upon  fishing  for  Lake 
Trout.  Hamilton  county  is  becoming  known ;  and  .<s  the  majority  of 
anglers  never  can  and  never  will  be  "  fly-fishers,"  trolling  for  Lake 
Trout  is  destined  to  bo  the  prevailing  mode  of  fishing  in  that  county 
of  great  waters.     Now,  I  propose  to  give  you  a  description  of  the  true, 


376 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


and  proper  tackle  for  this  branch  of  angling,  which  is,  by  all  odds, 
second  only  to  casting  the  fly ;  and  a  description  of  which  has  not,  as 
far  as  I  know,  ever  been  published  in  any  work  on  angling. 


This  excellent  treatise  will  be  found  under  the  head  of  Lake  Trout 
Pishing  ;  and  herewith,  for  the  present,  I  quit  the  Lake  Trout. 


•    n 


SALMONIDJE 


377 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERYGII. 


R/VLMONIDiB. 


THE  SALMON  TROUT, 


SEA    TROUT WHITE    TROUT. 


Salmo  Trutta ;   i.  .:xb\. 


When  speaking  of  this  beautiful  fish — which,  by  the  aid  of  my  frieml 
M.-.  Peilcy,  of  the  city  of  St.  John,  I  have  been  enabled  fully  to  estab- 
lish for  the  first  time  as  an  unquestionable  inhabitant  of  our  waters — 
I  mentioned,  on  page  277,  the  singular  fact  that  this  fish,  although  it 
enters  every  river  and  estuary  on  the  eastern  side  of  Nova  Scotia,  and 
runs  up  so  far  as  the  meeting  of  the  tidal  and  fresh  waters,  does  not 
run  up  into  the  shoals,  or  spawn  in  the  gravel  beds  of  any  of  those 
rivers. 

While  cooiiuenting  on  that  fact,  I  stated  that  it  would  appear  to 
indicate  a  variation  in  this  species  from  one  of  the  normal  habits  of  the 
race — that  of  running  up  into  aerated  waters,  in  order  to  spawn. 

This,  it  now  seems,  was  founded  on  an  erroneous  interpretation  of 
the  fact,  which  is,  that  the  Salmon  Trout,  which  does  run  up  into 
fresh  shallow  streams,  in  order  to  spawn,  on  the  Eastern  Continent, 
does  not  breed  with  us  at  all  on  the  Atlantic  coasts  of  America,  though 
it  will  probably  be  found  to  do  so  in  the  waters  which  fall  into  the  Pa- 
cific, as  the  Columbia,  Sacramento,  and  other  rivers  in  which,  as  I 
learn  from  returned  Californians,  it  literally  swarms 

The  Salmon  Trout  in  our  north-eastern  waters  is  merely  a  transient 
and  very  rapacious  visitor,  pursuing  the  vast  shoals  of  smelts  whicJ! 
run  into  all  those  rivers,  and  hunting  them  with  unwearied  activity 
and  ferocity,  until  they  escape  above  his  reach  into  the  swift  and 
shallow  fresh  waters,  into  which  he  does  not  seem  to  pursue  thcui 
After  their  escape,  he  returns  at  once  into  the  outer  bays  and  larger 
estuaries,  where  he  is  taken,  as  I  have  before  described,  with  the  scar- 
let ibis  fly. 

The  pursuit  of  the  smielt  by  this  fish  indicates  the  propriety  of  spin- 
25 


378 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


ning  for  him  with  that  bait,  iA  the  proper  localities,  in  case  of  his 
refusing  the  fly,  especially  when  the  smelts  are  becoming  rare. 

Mr.  Perley,  from  whom  I  derive  the  above  valuable  information, 
assures  me  that  he  was  very  successful  last  spring  in  taking  smelt  with 
a  very  small  scarlet  ibis  and  gold  tinsel  fly.  They  rise  constantly,  he 
says,  leaping  quite  out  of  the  water  at  their  favorite  bait. 

I  propose  to  try  this  sport  in  the  Passaic,  in  the  coming  spring ; 
and  in  default  of  other  fly-fishing,  doubt  not  to  find  it  good  fun. 


// 


8ALM0NIDJS 


379 


AUDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERYGII. 


BALMONID.f:. 


THE  SALMON  OF  THE  PACIFIC  WATERS. 


As  these  varieties  are  now  falling  within  the  notice  of  American 
citizens,  and  furnishing  both  food  and  sport  to  the  bold  and  hardy 
pioneers  of  civilization  who  are  resorting  in  such  numbers  to  the  El 
Dorado  of  the  Far  West,  I  quote  from  Richardson's  Fauna  Boreali 
Americana  the  following  lively  description  of  their  structure,  species 
and  habits : 

"  In  the  paucity  of  our  information  respecting  the  fish  of  New  Cale- 
donia, the  following  notices,  collected  from  the  Journal  of  Mr.  D.  VV. 
Harmon,  a  partner  of  the  North-West  Company,  are  valuable.  Thi? 
gentleman  resided  for  several  years  at  a  fur-post  on  Stuart's  Lake, 
which  lies  in  the  55th  parallel  of  latitude,  and  125th  degree  of  longi- 
tude, and  which  discharges  its  waters  by  a  stream,  named  also  Stuart, 
into  BVazer's  River,  that  falls  into  the  Strait  of  Juan  da  Fuca.  As 
his  remarks  upon  fish  relate  chiefly  to  the  Salmon  tribe,  this  appears 
to  be  the  most  appropriate  place  for  their  insertion. 

" '  1811.  May  11. — Stuart's  Lake.  The  ice  in  the  lake  broke  up 
this  afternoon.  22.  We  now  take  Trout  in  the  lake,  with  set  lines 
and  hooks,  in  considerable  numbers,  but  they  are  not  of  a  good  kind. 
It  is  perhaps  a  little  remarkable,  that  Pike  or  Pickerel  have  never 
been  found  in  any  of  the  lakes  and  rivers  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains. 

"  ^August  2.  It  is  impossible  at  this  season  to  take  fish  out  of  this 
lake  or  river.  Unless  the  Salmon  from  the  sea  soon  make  their  ap- 
pearance, our  condition  will  be  deplorable.  10.  Sent  all  our  people 
to  a  small  lake  about  twelve  miles  off,  out  of  which  the  natives  take 
small  fish,  much  resembling  Salmon  in  shape  and  flavor,  but  not  more 
than  six  inches  long.  They  are  said  to  bo  very  palatable.  22.  One 
of  the  natives  has  caught  a  Salmon,  which  is  joyful  intelligence  to  us 
all,  for  we  hope  and  expect  in  a  few  days  to  have  abundance.     Those 


880 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


fish  visit,  to  a  greater  or  loss  extent,  all  the  rivers  in  this  region,  and 
form  the  principal  dependence  of  the  inhabitants  as  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence. The  natives  always  make  a  feast  to  express  their  joy  at  the 
arrival  of  the  Salmon.  The  person  who  sees  the  first  one  in  the  river 
exclaims,  Td'loe  naslay !  td-loe  naslay!  Salmon  have  arrived!  Salmon 
have  arrived  I  The  exclamation  is  caught  up  with  joy,  and  repeatcid 
with  animation  by  every  body  in  the  village, 

^^  ^  September  2.  Wo  have  now  the  common  Salmon  in  abundance. 
Thoy  weigh  from  five  to  seven  pounds.  There  are  also  a  few  of  a 
larger  kind,  which  will  weigh  sixty  or  seventy  pounds.  Both  of  them 
are  very  good  when  just  taken  out  of  the  water  ;  but  when  dried,  as 
they  are  by  the  Indians  hero  by  the  heat  of  the  sun,  or  in  the  smoke  of 
a  fire,  they  are  not  very  palatable.  When  salted,  thoy  are  excellent. 
As  soon  as  the  Salmon  come  into  Stuart's  Lake,  they  go  in  search  of 
the  rivers  and  brooks  that  fall  into  it,  and  these  streams  they  ascend 
so  far  as  there  is  water  to  enable  them  to  swim ;  and  when  they  can 
proceed  no  farther  up,  they  remain  there  and  die.  None  were  ever 
seen  to  descend  these  streams.  They  are  found  dead  in  such  num- 
bers, in  some  places,  as  to  infect  the  atmosphere  with  a  terrible  stench, 
for  a  considerable  distance  round.  But  even  when  they  are  in  a  putrid 
state,  the  natives  frequently  gather  them  up  and  eat  them,  apparently 
with  the  same  relish  as  if  they  ware  fresh. 

^^^  October  21.  We  have  now  in  our  store  twenty-five  thousand 
Salmon.  Four  in  a  day  are  allowed  to  each  man.  I  have  sent  some 
of  our  people  to  take  White  Fish,  Attihawmeg. 

^'■^  November  16.  Our  fishermen  have  returned  to  the  fort,  and  in- 
form me  that  they  have  taken  seven  thousand  White  Fish.  They 
weigh  from  three  to  four  pounds,  and  were  taken  in  nine  nets  of  sixty 
fathoms  each.     17.  The  lake  froze  over  in  the  night. 

"'  1812.  January  30.  I  have  return?d  from  visiting  five  villages 
of  the  Nateotains,  built  on  a  lake  of  that  name,  which  gives  origin  to 
a  river  that  falls  into  Gardner's  Inlet.  They  contain  about  two  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  who  subsist  principally  on  Salmon  and  other  small 
fish,  and  are  all  well  made  and  robust.  The  Salmon  of  Lake  Nateo- 
tain  have  small  scales,  while  those  of  Stuart's  Lake  have  none. 

" '  May  23. — Stuart's  Lake.  This  morning  the  natives  caught  a 
Sturgeon  that  would  weigh  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.     Wc 


8ALM0NIDA. 


881 


f.-oquontly  soo  much  largor  ones,  which  we  cannot  take  for  want  of 
n  )tB  sufficiently  strong  to  hold  them. 

*^^Augu$t  15.  Salmon  begin  to  come  up  the  river.  Few  Salmon 
cnme  up  Stuart's  River  this  fall,  but  wo  procured  a  sufficient  quantity 
at  Frazor's  Lake  and  Stillas.  These  lakes  discharge  theur  waters  into 
Frazor's  River,  which  is  about  fifty  rods  wide,  and  has  a  pretty  strong 
current.  The  natives  pass  the  greater  part  of  the  summer  on  a  chain 
of  small  lakes,  where  they  procure  excellent  White  Fish,  Trout,  and 
Carp ;  but  towards  the  latter  part  of  August  they  return  to  the  bnnks 
of  the  river,  in  order  to  take  and  dry  Salmon  for  theur  subsistence 
during  the  succeeding  winter. 

"'  1813.  August  12.     Salmon  have  arrived. 

*'  *  1814.  August  5.  Salmon  begin  to  come  up  the  river.  They  are 
generally  taken  in  considerable  numbers  until  the  latter  part  of  Sep- 
tember. For  a  month  they  come  up  in  multitudes,  and  we  can  take 
any  number  we  please. 

" '  September  20.  We  have  had  but  few  Salmon  this  year.  It  is 
only  every  second  season  that  they  are  numerous,  the  reason  of  which 
I  am  unable  to  assign. 

" '  1815.  August  13. — Frazer's  Lake.  Salmon  begin  to  come  up 
the  river,  which  lights  up  joy  in  the  countenances  both  of  ourselven 
and  of  the  natives,  for  we  had  all  become  nearly  destitute  of  provisions 

'"  1816.  September  9,     Salmon  begin  to  come  up  this  river. 

•* '  1817.  August  6. — Stuart's  Lake.  Salmon  arriv^  J.  In  the 
month  of  June,  we  took  out  of  this  lake  twenty-one  Sturgeon,  that 
were  from  eight  to  twelve  feet  in  length.  One  of  them  measured 
twelve  feet  two  inches  from  its  extreme  points,  four  feet  eleven  inches 
round  the  middle,  and  would  weigh  from  five  hundred  and  fifty  to  six 
hundred  pounds. 

" '  The  Carrier  Indians  reside  a  part  of  the  year  in  villages,  built  at 
convenient  places  for  taking  and  drying  Salmon,  as  they  come  up  the 
rivers.  These  fish  they  take  in  abundance  with  little  labor ,  and  they 
constitute  their  principal  food  during  the  whole  year.  They  are  not 
very  unpalatable  when  eaten  alone,  and  with  vegetables  they  are  very 
pleasant  food.  Towards  the  middle  of  April,  and  sometimes  sooner, 
the  natives  leave  their  villages,  to  go  and  pass  about  two  months  at 
the  small  lakes,  from  which,  at  that  season,  they  take  White  Fish, 


888 


AMERICAN    riBIIES. 


Trout,  Carp,  &o..  Id  considerable  numbem.  But  when  thcae  begin  t<; 
fuil,  thoy  return  to  thoir  villages  and  subsist  on  the  small  fish  which 
they  dried  at  tho  lakes,  or  on  Salmon,  should  thoy  have  been  so  pro- 
vident as  to  have  kept  any  until  that  lato  season  ^  or  they  eat  herbs, 
the  inner  bark  or  sap  of  the  cypress  tree,  (pinui  Bankitana^)  berries, 
&c.  At  this  senfson,  few  fish  of  any  kind  are  to  bo  taken  out  of  the 
lakes  or  rivers  of  New  Caledonia.  In  this  manner  the  natives  barely 
8ub»st,  until  about  the  middle  of  August,  when  Salmon  again  begin  to 
make  their  appearance  in  all  tho  rivers  of  any  considerable  magnitude ; 
nnd  they  have  them  at  most  of  their  villages  in  plenty  until  tho  latter 
ond  of  September,  or  the  beginning  of  October.  For  about  a  month 
they  come  up  in  crowds,  and  the  noses  of  some  of  them  are  either 
worn  or  rottc  i  off,  and  tho  eyes  of  others  have  perished  in  their  heads ; 
yet  in  this  maimed  condition  they  are  surprisingly  alert  in  coming  up 
rapids.  These  maimed  fishes  are  generally  at  the  head  of  large  bands, 
on  account  of  which  the  natives  call  them  mec-oo-tees^  or  chiefs.  The 
Indians  say  that  they  have  suffered  these  disasters  by  falling  back 
among  the  stones,  when  coming  up  difficult  places  in  the  rapids  which 
they  pass.  Tho  Carriers  take  Salmon  in  the  following  manner.  All 
the  Indians  of  the  village  assist  in  making  a  dam  across  the  river,  in 
which  they  occasionally  leave  places  to  insert  their  baskets  or  nets  of 
wicker-work.  These  baskets  are  generally  from  fifteen  to  eigliteon 
feet  in  length,  and  from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  in  circumference.  The 
end  at  which  the  Salmon  enter  is  made  with  twigs  in  the  form  of  the 
entrance  of  a  wire  mouse-trap.  When  four  or  five  hundred  Salmon 
have  entered  this  basket,  they  either  take  it  to  the  shore  to  empty  out 
the  fish,  or  they  take  them  out  at  a  door  in  the  top,  and  transport  them 
to  the  shore  in  their  large  wooden  canoes,  which  are  convenient  for  this 
purpose.  When  the  Salmon  are  thrown  upon  the  beach,  the  women 
take  out  their  entrails  and  hang  them  by  the  tails  on  poles  in  the  open 
air.  After  they  have  remained  in  this  situation  a  day  or  two,  they  take 
them  down  and  out  them  thinner,  and  then  leave  them  to  hang  for 
about  a  month  in  the  open  air,  when  they  will  have  become  entirely 
dry.  They  are  then  put  into  store-houses,  which  are  built  on  four 
posts,  about  ten  feet  from  the  ground,  to  prevent  animuls  from  destroy- 
ing them;  and,  provided  they  are  preserved  dry,  they  will  remain 
good  for  several  years.' — Harmon's  Travels  in  North  America^  1820." 


\ 


•ALMONIDJB. 


886 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTBRYUII. 


BAUIONIDifi. 


THE  QUINNAT. 

Salmo  Quinnat!  Cuvier. 

"  *  This  is  the  spooies  which  asoendn  the  Columbia  earliest  in  the 
season,  commcnoing  its  run  in  the  month  of  May  in  enormous  shoals, 
clearing  the  greater  Dalles,  cascades  and  rapids  innumeraMe,  and  ma- 
king its  way  to  the  sources  of  the  river,  v^liere,  at  the  f^lose  of  the  sea- 
son, it  is  found  dead  on  the  bcaoh  in  great  numbers.  The  muscular 
power  of  this  fish  is  truly  astonishing,  oyen  in  a  datts  of  the  animal 
kingdom  remarkable  for  vigorous  movements,  for  it  ma;  be  seen 
ascending  channels  at  the  Kettle  Falls  so  rapid,  that  wh<  i  t  stone  as 
big  as  a  man's  head  is  dropped  into  them,  it  is  shot  downwards  win: 
the  swiftness  of  an  arrow.*  Individuals  of  this  sp.uict  have  often  been 
S3en  with  their  noses  fairly  worn  down  to  the  bone,  and  in  the  last 
stage  of  emaciation,  yet  still  striving,  to  the  last  gasp,  to  ascend  the 
stream.  The  selection  of  particular  streams  for  spawning  is  a  remark- 
able feature  in  the  history  of  the  fish.  It  ascends  the  Walamet,  Snake, 
and  Kootanio  rivers,  &c.,  and  passes  by  the  Kuwalitch,  Okanagan, 
Dease's  river,  and  others,  seeming  to  prefer  a  rapid  stream  interrupted 
by  falls,  to  one  of  a  quieter  character,  though  other  circumstances 
must  regulate  its  choice,  as  some  of  the  rivers  which  it  refuses  to  enter 
have  an  extremely  rapid  current.  It  is  this  Salmon  which  forms  the 
main  subsistence  of  the  numerous  hor  >(,'b  )f  Indians  who  live  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Columbia,  and  it  is  known  by  the  name  of  Quinnat,  for 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  river.  It  attains  a 
large  size,  weighing  often  from  tliiity  to  forty  pounds.'  The  Quinnat 
is  evidently  the  '  Common  Sji Imon'  of  Lewis  and  Clarke.  These  tra- 
vellers mention  the  first  arrival  of  the  Salmon  at  the  Skilloot  village, 

*  In  the  map  published  by  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge,  the 
descent  at  the  Kettle  Falls  is  stated  at  twenty-one  feet ;  but  Lewis  and  Clarke  were 
of  opinion  that  in  high  floods  the  water  below  the  falls  rises  nearly  to  a  level  with 
that  above  them. 


384 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


below  the  site  of  Fort  Vancouver,  as  having  occurred  on  the  18th  of 
April,  in  the  year  1806. 

"  *  Color. — General  tint  of  the  back  bluish  gray,  changing,  after  a 
few  hours  removal  from  the  water,  into  mountain  green  ;  sides  ash 
grey  with  silvery  lustre ;  helly  white ;  back  above  the  lateral  line  stud- 
ded with  irregular  rhomboidal  or  star-like  black  spots,  some  of  them' 
occellated.  Dorsal  fin  and  gill-covers  slightly  reddish ;  tips  of  the  anal 
and  pectorals  blackish  gray ;  the  dorsal  and  caudal  thickly  studded 
with  round  and  rhomboidal  spots,  back  of  the  head  sparingly  marked 
with  the  same.  Whole  body  below  the  lateral  line,  with  the  under  fins, 
destitute  of  spots.  Lower  jaw  and  tongue  blackish  gray;  roof  of  the 
mouth  tinged  here  and  there  with  the  same.  Scales  large.  Teeth 
disapp  \iring  on  the  medial  line  of  the  upper  jaw,  one  row  on  each 
palato'  bone,  a  few  small  teeth  on  the  fore  part  of  the  vomer,  and  two 
rows  on  the  tongue.  Form. — The  greatest  convexity  of  the  back  at 
the  origin  of  the  dorsal ;  end  of  the  caudal  semilunar ;  adipose  oppo- 
site to  the  posterior  end  of  the  anal ;  dorsal  of  greater  height  than 
length.     Fins.— Br.  17;  P.  16;  V.  10;  A.  16;  D.  14—0;  C.  19|.' 

"  The  specimen  of  this  Salmon,  though  it  is  very  soft,  and  has  lost 
its  scales,  still  retains  its  form,  so  that  i  am  able  to  add  the  following 
particulars  to  Dr.  Gairdner's  description : — General  form  much  like 
that  of  a  Salmon  Trout.  The  head  is  exactly  one-fourth  of  the  length, 
from  the  tip  of  the  snout  to  the  end  of  the  scales  on  the  caudal.  The 
snout  is  cartilaginous  as  in  S.  Salar,  and  the  length  of  the  lower 
jaw  rather  exceeds  that  of  the  upper  surface  of  the  head.  The  edge 
of  the  gill-plate  is  an  arc  of  a  circle  as  in  that  species,  but  the  sub- 
operculum  is  still  more  sloped  off,  having  much  the  form  of  that  of 
Salmo  Scouleri.  There  are  sixteen  gill-rays  on  the  right  side,  and 
seventeen  on  the  left.  Th(  largest  teeth  are  those  of  the  under  jaw, 
of  which  there  are  eleven  in  each  limb,  placed  at  regular  distances, 
with  some  small  ones  in  the  intervals  attached  to  the  soft  parts  only. 
The  labial  and  intermaxillary  teeth  are  similar  to  these,  and  but  little 
inferior  i  i  size.  The  lingual  teeth,  considerably  smaller  than  those  in 
the  jaw,  are  placed  in  two  parallel  rows,  five  in  each.  The  palatine 
teeth  are  a  little  shorter  than  the  lingual  ones,  and  those  on  the  vomer 
are  the  smallest  of  all,  scarcely  protruding  through  the  soft  parts  in 
the  recent  specimen ;  there  are  nine  of  them — two  in  front,  the  others 


SALMONIDf. 


385 


iu  a  single  series,  running  upwards  of  half  an  inch  backwards,  or  about 
two-thirds  as  far  back  as  the  palatine  teeth.  The  gullet  is  armed  with 
small  teeth  above  and  below.  The  jaw  teeth  are  as  big  as  those  of  the 
Salmon  Trout.  There  are  sixty-six  vertebrae  in  the  spine.  The 
pyloric  catoa,  are  very  numerous,  there  being  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty-five  of  them ;  and  their  insertions  surround  the  intestines  from  the 
pylorus  until  it  makes  a  bend  downwards,  below  which  they  continue 
to  be  inserted  for  a  short  way  on  one  side  of  the  gut  only." 


AS\ 


886 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERYGII. 


SALMONID.V. 


GAIRDNER'S  SALMON, 


THE    QUEACHTS. 


Saltno  Gairdnerii;  Richardson. 


''  The  specific  name  which  I  have  given  to  this  Salmon  is  intended 
as  a  tribute  to  the  merits  of  a  young  though  able  naturalist,  from  whom 
science  may  expect  many  important  acquisitions,  and  especially  in  the 
history  of  the  Zoology  of  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  should  his 
engagements  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  permit  him  to  cultivate 
that  hitherto  neglected  field  of  observation. 

" '  This  species  ascends  the  river  in  the  month  of  June,  in  much 
smaller  numbers  than  the  Quinnat,  in  whose  company  it  is  taken.  Its 
average  weight  is  between  six  and  seven  pounds. 

"'Color. — Back  of  head  and  body  bluish  gray;  sides  ash  gray. 
Belly  white,  'i  he  only  traces  of  variegated  marking  are  a  few  faint 
spots  at  the  root  of  the  caudal.  Form. — Profile  of  dorsal  line  nearly 
straight,  tail  terminating  in  a  highly  semilunar  outline.  Ventrals 
correspond  to  commencement  of  dorsal  and  adipose  to  end  of  anal. 
Teeth. — ^Jaws  fully  armed  with  strong  hooked  teeth,  except  a  small 
space  in  centre  of  upper  jaw.  Vomer  armed  with  a  double  row 
for  two-thirds  of  its  anterior  portion.  Palate  bones  also  armed  with 
strong  teeth.     Fins.— Br.  11—12;  P.  13;  V.  11 ;  A.  12.' 

"  In  this  species  the  gill-cover  resembles  that  of  Salmo  Salar  still 
more  strongly  tlian  that  of  the  Quinnat  does,  the  shape  of  the  sub- 
operculum  in  particular  being  precisely  the  same  with  that  of  Salar. 
The  teeth  stand  in  bony  sockets  like  those  of  the  Quinnat,  but  are 
scarcely  so  long.  Those  of  the  lower  jaw  and  intermaxillaries  are  a 
little  smaller  than  the  lingual  ones,  and  f  omewhat  larger  than  the  pala- 
tine or  labial  ones.  The  tongue  contains  six  teeth  on  each  side,  the 
rows  not  parallel  as  in  the  Quinnat,  but  diverging  a  little  posteriorly. 
The  pharyngeals  are  armed  with  small  sharp  teeth.     The  numbers  of 


8ALM0NIDJE. 


387 


the  teeth,  excluding  the  small  ones  which  fall  off  with  the  gums,  are  as 
follow: — Intermax.  4 — 4;  labials  21 — ^21;  lower  jaw  11 — 11;  palate 
bones  12 — 12  ;  vomer  lost ;  tongue  6 — 6.  When  the  soft  parts  are 
entirely  removed,  the  projecting  under  edge  of  the  articular  piece  of 
the  lower  jaw  is  acutely  serrated,  in  which  respect  this  species  differs 
from  all  the  others  received  from  Dr.  Gairdner.  There  are  sixty-four 
vortebraB  in  the  spine  " 


388 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


ARDOMINAL 
MALAUOPTERVOU. 


SALMONID.fi 


WEAK-TOOTHED  SALMON. 

QUANNICH. 

Saltno  Paucident ;  Richardson. 

"  This  Salmon  ascends  the  Columbia  at  the  same  time  with  the  S. 
Gairdneriij  and  in  equal  numbers.  It  is  taken  in  company  with  that 
spacies  and  the  Quinnat,  and  has  an  average  weight  of  three  or  four 
pounds. 

" '  Color. — Back  of  head  and  body  bluish  gray ;  sides  ash  gray  with 
a  reddish  tinge ;  belly  white.  No  trace  of  spots  on  the  body  or  finef. 
Form. — Commissure  of  the  mouth  very  oblique,  approaching  to  verti- 
cal, doit^al  profile  quite  straight,  tail  forked.  Ventrals  corresponding 
to  middle  of  the  dorsal,  and  adipose  to  posterior  extremity  of  the  anal. 
Teeth  sparingly  scattered  and  feeble  on  the  jaws,  only  a  few  short 
weak  ones  on  the  anterior  extremity  of  the  vomer,  and  on  the  palate 
bones.     Fins.— Br.  13;  P.  17;  V.  12;  A.  17;  D.  12—0.' 

"  From  the  labels  having  dropped  off,  I  cannot  refer  the  fragments 
of  any  of  the  specimens  to  this  species  with  certainty ;  but  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  that  the  spine,  containing  sixty-six  vertebrae,  belongs 
to  it,  and  if  so,  the  gill-cover  is  extremely  like  that  of  S.  Scoulerij 
and  the  bones  of  the  head  have  the  same  fibrous  structure  which  we 
have  noticed  in  the  description  of  that  species.  None  of  the  teeth 
have  been  preserved,  but  those  of  the  lower  jaw  appear  to  have  been 
fixed  in  cartilaginous  sockets,  which  have  separated  from  the  bone, 
leaving  a  rough  surface.  The  palate  and  upper  jaw  bones  are  lost. 
The  union  of  the  branchial  arches  at  the  root  of  the  tongue  is  longer 
and  narrower  than  in  the  preceding  two  species,  and  the  gill-openings 
consequently  are  more  ample.  Either  this  species  or  the  S.  Scoulerij 
or  perhaps  both,  are  named  '  Red  Char '  by  Lewis  and  Clarke." 


•ALMONIDA.. 


389 


ABDOMINAL 
HALACOPTERYUII. 


SALMONID.f:. 


THE  EKEWAN. 


Salmo  Seoulerif  Richardion. 

** '  The  Ekowan,  which  averages  thirty  pounds  in  weight,  ascends 
the  Columbia  towards  the  end  of  August  and  in  the  month  of  Septem- 
ber. Its  flesh  is  paler  and  of  inferior  quality  to  the  four  preceding 
kinds.'  From  Dr.  Gairdner's  description  of  this  species,  i  have  little 
doubt  of  its  being  the  same  with  the  S.  Scouleri  of  Observatory  Inlet ; 
and  I  should,  without  hesitation,  have  referred  to  it  the  spinal  column 
and  opercular  bones  noticed  at  the  close  of  the  account  of  the  prece- 
ding species,  had  not  Dr.  Gairdner  mentioned  that  no  specimen  of  the 
Ekewan  was  sent,  as  he  had  not  obtained  one  small  enough  to  be  put 
in  spirits. 

" '  Color. — Body  abov3  m?dial  lino  smoke  gray,  passing  on  head  and 
tail  into  bluish  gray ;  a  slight  reddish  tinge  at  the  root  of  the  dorsal, 
and  between  it  and  the  adipose.  Fins  bluish  gray,  and  all  tinged  with 
red  except  the  caudal,  which,  with  the  back,  is  studded  with  irregular 
semilunar  and  stellated  blackish  brown  spots.  A  large  vermillion  red 
patch  in  the  concavity  of  the  vertex,  and  another  on  the  preopercule. 
Body  below  the  mesial  line  grayish  white  with  a  reddish  tinge.  Form. 
— A  remarkable  flattening  over  ^.itrcmity  of  snout,  behind  which 
a  slight  concavity  to  occiput,  where  the  body  rises  suddenly  into  a 
hump,  and  continues  rising  as  far  as  the  flrst  dorsal,  this  elevatad  por- 
tion being  accuiuinatcd  into  a  ridge.  A  notch  behind  the  point  of  the 
huout  gives  an  arched  outline  to  the  commissure  of  the  mouth.  Lower 
jaw  also  arched  upwards,  so  that  the  two  jaws  do  not  approach  each 
other  when  the  mouth  is  closed,  except  at  the  two  extremities.  Teeth  . 
— Jaws  fully  armed  with  strong  hooked  tocth,  except  a  small  space  in 
the  medial  lino  of  the  upper  jaw.  Teeth  moveable,  from  being  imbed- 
ded in  soft  cartilaginous  sockets.  Two  rows  of  strong  lingual  teeth,  a 
single  row  on  each  palate  bone,  and  a  few  rudimentary  ones  can  be 
felt  in  a  single  row  on  the  anterior  extremity  of  the  vomer.     Teeth  on 


300 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


the  pharyngeal  bones.     Rays. — Br."  16  ;  P.  16 ;  V.  9  ;  A.  16  ;  D 
12—0. 

"  *  This  description  applies  to  a  female — ^the  male  differs  in  the  up- 
per jaw  being  elongated  into  a  proboscis,  which  projects  beyond  the 
lower  jaw  when  the  mouth  is  closed ;  it  is  formed  of  a  moveable  carti- 
laginous mass  articulated  to  the  extremity  of  the  nasal  bones,  and  is 
furnished  with  teeth  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  jaw.  The  lower  jaw  is 
narrower,  and  entirely  received  within  the  concavity  of  the  upper  one 
when  the  mouth  is  shut.*  " 


8ALM0NIDJG. 


801 


/ 


ABDOMINAL 
MALAOOPTERYGII. 


iSALMONIDiE. 


THE  TSUPPITCH. 


Salmo  Ttuppiteh; 


"  'The  Tsuppitoh  ascends  the  Columbia  at  the  same  time  with  the 
Ekewan.     I  counted  1644  o^    in  the  ovary  of  a  female. 

'' '  Color. — Back  of  body  and  bead  studded  with  oval  and  circular 
spots ;  sides  and  fins,  including  the  caudal,  destitute  of  spots ;  back 
medially  bluish  gray,  passing  on  the  back  of  the  head  into  blackish 
gray,  and  on  the  sides  into  yellowish  gray,  with  a  greenish  tinge  and 
silvery  white.  General  color  of  the  fins  ash  gray.  Teeth. — Jaws 
fully  armed  with  minute  sharp  teeth,  a  single  row  on  each  palate  bone, 
a  very  few  on  the  anterior  end  of  the  vomer  in  a  single  series,  and  a 
double  row  on  the  tongue.  Form. — Head  small,  exactly  conical,  ter- 
minating in  a  pointed  snout.  Commissure  of  mouth  very  slightly  ob- 
lique. Convexity  of  dorsal  profile  rising  gradually  to  origin  of  first 
dorsal,  and  declining  from  thence  to  the  tail.  Caudal  forked.  Rays 
—Br.  13 ;  P.  13 ;  V.  10 ;  A.  13  ;  D.  12— 0.» 

"  A  spine  containing  sixty-four  vertebrae,  and  an  under  jaw  with  ten 
curved  teeth  in  each  limb,  are  all  the  bones  that  I  can  with  any  ap- 
pearance of  correctness  refer  to  this  species.  The  teeth  are  of  equal 
size  with  those  of  S.  Gairdneri,  or  perhaps  rather  larger,  and  are  at- 
tached to  the  jaw-bone  through  the  medium  of  cartilage. 


392 


AMERICAK    riSHEb. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALAOOFTERYOU. 


BALMONlDiG. 


CLARKE'S  SALMON. 

Salmo  Clarkii ;  Richardsun. 

"  Dr.  Gairdoer  does  not  mention  the  Indian  name  of  this  Trout, 
which  was  caught  in  the  Katpootl,  a  small  tributary  of  .  d  Columbia, 
on  its  right  bank.  I  have  therefore  named  it  as  a  tribute  to  the  me- 
mory of  Captain  Clarke,  who  notices  it  in  the  narrative  prepared  by 
him  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Expedition  to  the  Pacific,  of  which  he 
and  Captain  Lewis  had  a  joint  command,  as  a  dark  variety  of  Salmon 
Trout.  In  color  this  species  resembles  the  Mykiss  of  Kamtschatka, 
and  there  is  no  very  material  discrepancy  in  the  number  of  rays  in  the 
fins.     Vide  Arct.  Zool.,  Intr.,  p.  cxxvi. 

"  *  Color. — Back  generally  brownish  purple  red,  passing  on  the  sides 
into  ash  gray,  and  into  reddish  white  on  the  belly.  Large  patches  of 
dark  purplish  red  on  the  back.  Dorsals  and  base  of  the  caudal  ash 
gray,  end  of  caudal  pansy  purple.  Back,  dorsal,  and  caudal  studded 
with  small  semilunar  spots.  A  large  patch  of  arterial  red  on  the  oper- 
cule  and  margin  of  the  prcopercule.  Pectorals,  ventrals,  and  anal 
grayish  white,  tinged  with  rose  red.  Te):th. — Both  jaws  armed  with 
strong  hooked  teeth,  a  single  row  on  each  palate  bone,  a  double  row 
on  the  anterior  half  of  the  vomer  and  on  the  tongue.  Dorsal  profile 
nearly  straight.  Ventrals  opposite  to  the  middle  of  the  first  dorsal. 
Fissure  of  mouth  oblique.  Extremity  of  caudal  nearly  even.  Fins. 
Br.  11 ;  P.  12 ;  V.  8  ;  A.  13 ;  D.  11—0.' 

"  There  appear  to  have  been  two  specimens  of  this  species  sent  to 
me  by  Dr.  Gairdner.  In  both  the  spinal  column  contains  sixty-two 
vertebrae.  The  teeth,  which  are  closely  set,  rather  long,  slender  and 
acute ;  and,  in  the  older  specimen,  considerably  curved,  are  in  num- 
ber as  follows : — Intermax.  lost ;  labials  28 — 30  ;  palate  bones  15— 
17  ;  vomer  13,  two  in  front  and  the  others  in  a  single  flexuose  series, 
as  long  as  the  dental  surface  of  the  palalc-bones ;  lower  jaw  13—13  ; 
tongue  6—6,  in  two  almost  parallel  rows     The  lingual  teeth  are  the 


SALMONIDJE. 


303 


largest  aDd  most  curved,  thoso  of  the  lower  jaw  are  next  in  size,  then 
follow  the  vomerine,  palatine,  and  labial  teeth,  which  are  equal  to  each 
other.  The  pharyngeal  teeth  are  also  proportionally  long,  and  there 
is  an  oblong  palate,  rough  with  very  minute  ones,  on  the  isthmus  which 
unites  the  lower  ends  of  the  branchial  arches.  This  space  is  quite 
smooth  in  S.  Salary  in  several,  if  not  in  all  the  English  Trouts,  and 
in  S.  Quinnatf  Gairdneri,  and  in  the  imperfect  specimen  which  I  have 
referred  to  S.  Scoukri.  In  the  latter  the  surface  of  the  arches  is  also 
quite  smooth,  but  in  the  Quinnat  and  Gairdneri  minute  rough  points 
become  visible  with  a  good  eye-gladS.  In  all  the  Trouts  the  com- 
pressed rakers  have  their  thin  inner  edges  more  or  less  strongly  toothed. 
In  one  of  the  specimens  of  S.  Clarfcii  the  spinal  column  b  nine  inches 
long,  in  the  other  six." 
26 


304 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERYGII. 


BALMONIDiC 


THE  NORTH-WEST  CAPELIN. 

Salmo  {MallotuB  ?)  Paeifieuts  Richardson.— Hub-oenui  ^allotiM ;  CuvierT 

"  *  The  Indian  name  of  this  fish  is  Oulachan.  It  comes  annually  in 
immense  shoals  into  the  Columbia,  about  the  23rd  of  February,  but 
ascends  no  higher  than  the  Katpootl,  a  tributary  which  joins  it  about 
sixty  miles  from  :t-  mouth.  It  keeps  close  to  the  bottom  of  the  stream 
in  the  day,  and  is  caught  only  in  the  night.  The  instrument  used  in 
its  capture  by  the  natives  is  a  long  stick  armed  with  sharp  points, 
which  is  plunged  into  the  midst  of  the  shoal,  and  several  arc  generally 
transfixed  by  each  stroke.  It  is  the  favorite  food  of  the  Sturgeon, 
which  enters  the  river  at  the  same  time,  and  never  has  a  better  flavor 
than  when  it  preys  on  this  fish.  The  Oulachan  spawns  in  the  different 
small  Si.eams  which  fall  into  the  lower  part  of  the  Columbia.  It  is 
much  prized  as  an  article  of  food  by  the  natives,  and  arrives  oppor- 
tunely in  the  interval  between  the  expenditure  of  their  winter  stock  of 
dry  Salmon  and  the  first  appearance  of  the  Quinnat  in  May.'  This 
fish  is  noticed  by  Lewis  and  Clarke  in  the  following  terms : — *  The 
Anchovy,  which  the  natives  call  Oltken,  is  so  delicate  a  fish  that  it  soon 
becomes  tainted,  unless  piekled  or  smoked ;  the  natives  run  a  small 
stick  through  the  gills,  and  hang  it  to  dry  in  the  smoke  of  their  lodges, 
or  kindle  small  fires  under  it ;  it  needs  no  previous  preparation  of  gut- 
ting, and  will  be  cured  in  twenty-four  hours  ;  the  natives  do  not  ap- 
pear to  be  very  scrupulous  about  eating  it  when  a  little  foetid.' 

" '  Color  generally  silvery  white,  passing  on  the  back  into  a  blackish 
tinge.  Large  irregular,  but  generally  oval  spots  of  yellowish  white  and 
blackish  gray  on  the  back.  A  bluish  black  spot  over  each  orbit.  Mar- 
gins of  lips  black.  Back  of  head  grayish  white.  Minute  black  dots 
on  the  silvery  basis  of  the  cheeks.  Form. — Head  small  and  pointed. 
Large  suborbital  covering  the  greater  part  of  the  cheek.  Opercule 
terminating;  in  a  thin  rounded  angb.  Mouth  opening  obliquely  up- 
wards, its  fissure  extending  as  far  back  as  the  anterior  margin  of  the 


8ALM0NIDJB. 


890 


orbit.  Lower  jaw  projeotiDg  beyond  the  upper  one,  and  terminating 
in  a  rounded  knob  turned  slightly  upwards.  Margins  of  upper  jaw 
entirely  formed  by  the  intermaxillarics,  on  which  there  are  a  few  mi- 
nute setffi  in  place  of  teeth.  Lower  jaw,  vomer  and  palatines  devoid 
of  teeth.  Tongue  rough,  and  pharyngeals  armed  with  teeth.  Fins. 
—Br.  8 ;  P.  11 ;  V.  8 ;  D.  11—0 ;  A.  20.  Adipose  fin  thin  and  con- 
taining little  fat.     Lateral  line  straight  and  continuous.' 

"  Five  specimens  were  sent  to  mn  ^y  Dr.  Gairdner,  but  they  were 
unfortunately  all  so  much  injured  that  I  can  add  very  few  particulars 
to  that  gentleman's  brief  description.  In  the  general  form,  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  scales,  the  black  specks  on  the  head  and  body,  the 
form  of  the  anal  and  its  attachment  to  a  compressed  projecting  edge 
of  the  tail,  the  structure  of  the  lower  jaw  and  gill-covers,  and  in  the 
shape  of  the  head  as  far  as  it  could  be  ascertained,  this  fish  closely 
resembles  the  Capelin.  On  the  other  hand,  the  ascent  of  the  species 
into  fresh  water  to  spawn,  and  perhaps  its  dentition,  ally  it  to  the 
Smelt.  Head  as  in  the  Capelin,  forming  one-fifth  of  the  length  be- 
tween the  tip  of  the  snout  and  end  of  the  central  cau|^al  rays.  Caudal 
forked.  Dorsal  commencing  a  very  little  anterior  to  the  middle  be- 
tween the  tip  of  the  snout  and  end  of  scales  on  the  caudal,  agreeing, 
in  this  respect,  more  nearly  with  the  Smelt  than  with  the  Capelin,  in 
which  the  dorsal  is  farther  back, 'its  first  ray  being  equidistant  from 
the  end  of  the  snout  and  the  extremity  of  the  central  caudal  ray.  Anal 
of  one  specimen  containing  twenty-one  rays.  Gill-covers  thin,  papery, 
and  flexible,  lined  with  nacre.  In  ilrying,  the  surfaces  of  the  opercu- 
lar bones  are  marked  with  wrinkles  parallel  to  their  sides,  as  may  be 
observed  in  the  Smelt  and  Capelin,  but  not  so  conspicuously.  These 
wrinkles  are  most  evident  on  the  square  operculum.  As  the  thin 
lining  of  the  mouth  and  lips  is  mostly  abraded,  from  the  putrescency 
of  the  specimens,  the  dentition  can  be  only  imperfectly  ascertained 
from  them.  In  four  specimens  no  teeth  whatever  can  be  discovered ; 
but  in  a  fifth,  a  female  full  of  mature  roe,  the  lower  jaw  is  armed 
with  a  single  series  of  very  slender,  curved  teeth,  rather  more  distant, 
and  longer  than  those  of  the  Capelin.  There  is  also  a  solitary  tooth 
remaining  on  the  vomer  of  the  same  specimen,  occupying  the  place  of 
the  exterior  vomerine  tooth  in  the  Smelt,  and  nearly  as  large.  Tongue 
conical  as  in  the  Smelt,  and  not  presenting  an  oval  flat  surface  sur- 


806 


AMERICAN   riSHES. 


roundod  with  tooth  like  tho  Capolin.  In  all  the  spooiinons  the  upp  n 
jaw  waa  so  much  injurod  that  its  vtruoturo  oould  not  bo  asoortainud ; 
but  it  h  probable  that  tho  intormazillaries,  boing  Binall  as  in  thu  Cap- 
olin,  woro  not  distinguished  from  the  labials  by  Dr.  Gairdnor,  iu  his 
examination  of  the  reoont  fish.  Tho  rakors  of  tho  branohioo  are  long 
and  slender  as  in  the  Smelts  and  Capolin.  The  stomach  resembles 
that  of  the  Cupelin ;  the  descending  portion  ends  in  a  pointed  sao,  and 
a  short  branch  which  it  gives  off  in  tho  middle  terminates  in  tho  pylo- 
rus. Tho  intestine  makes  a  bend,  or  rather  twist,  downwards  at  the 
pylorus,  and  runs  straight  to  tho  anus,  its  onlibre  gradually  becoming 
less  as  it  approaches  the  latter.  There  are  nine  caeca,  throe  of  thorn 
rather  shorter  than  the  others,  close  to  tho  pylorus ;  the  other  six,  in- 
serted in  a  single  series  down  ono  side  of  tho  intestine,  are  oaoh  half 
an  inch  long.  In  three  specimens  there  are  sixty-eight  vertebrse  in 
the  spine,  and  in  two  sixty-nine.  A  male  speoimon,  with  the  melt 
half-grown,  showed  no  traces  of  vi^/i,  or  altered  scales,  on  the  lateral 
line,  though  the  skin  was  apparently  entire  in  that  place.  Male  Cape- 
lins,  destitute  of  (he  ridges  of  elongated  scales,  are  occasionally  taken 
in  Greenland." 


MALMONIDiC. 


m 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERYOII. 


•ALMONIDiC. 


THE  WHITE  FISH. 

ATTEHAWMEO. 
Coregonut  Albut. 

It  is  Tory  worthy  of  remark,  that  this  dolicious  fish  is  taken  abun< 
dantly,  and  of  the  very  finest  quality,  infinitely  superior  to  the  fish  of 
Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  and  not  inferior  to  that  of  Huron  and  Superior 
in  the  small  inland  lakes  of  Seneca  and  Cayuga. 

So  far  us  1  can  laarn,  the  White  Fish  is  nowhere  taken  with  the  fly, 
unless  by  pure  acoidont ;  and  that  it  is  uttofly  unworthy  of  the  angler's 
pursuit,  OS  a  fish  of  game,  cannot  bo  doubted.  The  Coreguni,  in 
general,  are  the  most  vogotablo-eating  of  all  tho  Salmonida^  and  rarely 
take  a  bait  of  any  kind,  although  I  learn  that  in  Seneca  Lake  they 
are  occasionally  caught  on  S3t  linos,  especially  with  stale  bait. 

I  find  it  stated  in  Dr.  Richardson's  Fauna  Boreali  Americana,  that 
the  White  Fish  runs  up  tho  Severn  River  from  Lake  Huron,  in  order 
to  spawn,  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Todd ;  there  must,  however,  be 
some  error  in  this ;  as  having  visited  tho  Severn  this  autumn,  and 
canoed  up  it  into  Lake  Simooe,  I  can  answer  for  the  fact  that  it  is  im- 
practicable to  any  fish ;  and  that  having  a  purely  rocky  bottom  until 
above  tho  great  falls,  it  possesses  no  spawning  grounds  to  tempt  fish. 
At  the  very  outlet  there  is  a  natural  fall  or  rapid  of  above  twelve  feet, 
with  an  old  Indian  mill-dam  ;  at  about  twelve  miles  higher  yet,  there 
is  a  very  powerful  rapid  of  about  fifteen,  and  at  twenty-five  from  the 
mouth  a  superb  rapid  and  fall  of  seventy  feet  descent  in  about  a  hun- 
dred yards  of  length. 

The  Severn  notoriously  contains  no  fish  except  a  few  sucking  Carp 
of  diflFerent  kinds,  a  few  Rock  Bass,  and  in  the  shallow  rice  lakes  above 
the  falls,  goodly  Mascalonge. 

The  best  White  Fish  are  taken  in  the  rapids  of  the  Sault  St.  Marie, 
with  scoop-nets;  but  they  are  also  spDared  by  the  Indians,  and  takes 
in  vast  quantities  with  the  seine,  by  tho  white  settlers. 


308 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERYGU. 


9ALM0NID^. 


LE  SUEUR'S  HERRING  SALMON. 

Coregonus  Artedi  ;  Le  Sueur. 

This  fish  is  the  Herring  of  Lake  Erie  and  the  Niagara  River.  It 
is  not  of  much  value  as  an  article  of  food,  and  of  next  to  none  as  a  Bsh 
of  sport.  The  meat  is  white  and  delicate  enough,  but  rather  dry  and 
tasteless.  > 

Richardson  thus  alludes  to  it  in  his  fine  work,  so  often  quoted,  on  the 
Northern  fishes  of  America : 

"  This  species  having  been  taken  in  Lake  Erie  and  the  Niagara 
River,  requires  to  be  noticed  in  this  work.  M.  Le  Sueur  says  that  it 
is  locally  known  by  the  name  of  Herring  Salmon,  and  is  considered  to 
be  very  delicate  food.  As  it  did  not  fall  under  our  notice,  we  slall 
transcribe  the  description  given  of  it  by  its  discoverer. 

"  Description  quoted  from  M.  Le  Sueur. — Body  subfusiform,  a  little 
elevated  at  the  back  ;  head  small,  having  an  osseous  radiated  plate 
which  is  covered  by  the  skin ;  snout  pointed.  In  form  this  species 
approaches  the  Scombri  ;  a  section  of  it  is  oval.  Head  small  and  nar- 
row ;  snout  short,  terminated  by  small  intermaxillaries ;  maxillarics 
wide,  sharp-edged  as  in  the  Herring,  edges  entire ;  mandibles  carinate, 
producing  inwardly  a  triangular  pedunculate  expansion ;  very  small 
conical  teeth  inserted  in  the  skin  of  the  lips  at  the  extremity  of  the 
jaws :  these  teeth  wjre  sufficiently  manifest  in  a  small  individual,  but 
not  visible  in  a  larger  one,  a  female,  which  came  under  my  observa- 
tion .  Rays  in  the  osseous  plate  of  the  head  tubular,  and  open  at  the 
exterior,  some  tending  backwards,  and  others  towards  the  end  of  the 
snout.  A  faint  carinate  line  divides  the  top  of  the  head  in  the  dried 
specimen.  Lateral  line  straight  and  near  the  middle;  nostrils  double, 
close  to  the  end  of  the  snout  and  articulation  of  the  maxillaries ;  scales 
round,  approximated,  easily  falling  off ;  the  base  of  the  tail  is  covered 
with  them.  Color  ash  blue  at  the  back,  paler  and  silvery  on  the  rest 
of  the  body,  with  yellow  tints  on  the  tail,  head  and  dorsal ;  iris  whitish, 


8ALM0NIDJE. 


899 


pupil  black.  Length  ten  to  twelve  inches.  Fins. — Br.  9 ;  ?.  16 ; 
D.  12—0;  V.  12;  A.  13;  C— g. 

"  M.  Le  Sueur,  in  comparing  our  Attihawmeg,  or  his  Coregonus  Al- 
busj  with  C.  Artedij  says  that  it  has  a  less  fusiform  body,  and  the  back 
elevaied  from  the  nape  to  the  dorsal.  '  The  C.  Albus^  he  further 
states, '  has  more  depth  of  body,  a  greater  elevation  of  back,  and  much 
stronger  proportions  in  its  body,  fins,  and  scales.  The  adipose  fin, 
which  is  broad,  appears  to  consist  of  delicate  rays,  much  pressed,  and 
in  pairs.'  A  careful  examination  of  the  dried  specimens  of  our  C. 
Albus  from  Lake  Huron,  exhibited  no  rays  whatever,  nor  any  interspi- 
nous  bones  to  support  them,  but  the  fin,  in  drying,  splits  in  a  fibrous 
manner." 

This  is  the  Herring  of  Seneca  Lake,  now  becoming  very  rare,  but 
much  prized,  as  the  best  and  most  killing  of  all  baits  upon  the  deep 
lake  set-line  for  Trout,  Pike-Perch,  Eels,  and  Black  Bass. 


400 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


ABDOMINAL 
MALACOPTERVGII. 


SALMONIDiE. 


LAKE  HURON  HERRING  SALMON. 


THE    HERRING. 


Coregonua  Harengua ;  Richardson. 

This  fish  is  exceedingly  abundant  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Huron,  to 
which  it  resorts  in  enormous  shoals  in  the  spring  and  autumn,  and  con- 
stitutes a  principal  article  of  food  to  the  Indians  and  white  settlers.  It 
is  rather  a  dry  and  tasteless  fish.  It  occasionally  rises  at  the  ily,  but 
is  rarely  taken  except  by  the  seine. 

Richardson  describes  him  thus.  I  have  examined  this  and  the  last 
species,  and  am  satisfied  that  they  are  distinct : 

"  This  fish  is  plentiful  at  PenetanguiShene,  on  Lake  Huron  ;  but  I 
am  unable  to  determine  whether  it  be  the  same  with  the  C.  Artedi  of 
Le  Sueur,  which  we  have  already  noticed  as  an  inhabitant  of  Lake 
Erie.  Baron  Cuvicr's  remark  upon  our  specimen  was,  '  Espece  nou- 
velle  voisine  des  Coregones.''  It  resembles  C.  Lucidus  very  nearly  ;  its 
larger  head,  smaller  scales,  and  a  slight  difference  in  the  position  of 
its  ventrals  being  the  principal  distinctive  characters  I  have  been  able 
to  detect  in  the  dried  specimens.  Having  lost  my  notes  of  the  dissec- 
tions which  I  made  of  O.  Lucidus,  and  having  examined  the  recent 
specimens  of  C.  Harengus  only  cursorily,  I  can  say  nothing  respect- 
ing any  differences  that  may  exist  in  their  viscera.  An  argument 
against  the  identity  of  the  species  may  be  adduced  from  their  habitats 
being  upwards  of  twenty  degrees  of  latitude  apart. 

"  The  Lake  Huron  Herring  Salmon  is  gregarious,  like  the  Boar 
Lake  one,  and  frequents  sandy  bays  during  the  summer  months.  It 
spawns  in  April  and  May,  and  at  that  time  is  occasionally  seen  in 
rivers.  According  to  Mr.  Todd's  observations,  it  is  '  a  timid  fish,  ap- 
pears to  be  in  constant  rapid  motion,  and  associates  in  shoals  in  pursuit 
of  the  fry  of  the  small  fishes  on  which  it  feeds.  As  an  article  of  diet, 
it  is  well  tasted  and  wholesome,  though  much  less  rich  and  agreeable 
than  the  Attihawnieg. 


SALMONIDJE. 


401 


"  The  following  is  a  description  drawn  up  from  notes  made  at  Pene- 
tanguishene,  aided  by  a  re-examination  of  the  dried  specimens : 

"  Color,  in  the  recent  fish,  olive  green  on  the  back,  silvery  on  the 
sides  and  belly,  and  blackish  green  on  the  top  of  the  head ;  the  gill* 
covers,  cheeks,  and  irides  are  whitish  and  nacry. 

"  Scales  of  the  same  form  with  those  C  Lucidus,  but  only  of  two- 
thirds  the  size ;  on  the  sides  their  transverse  diameter  is  four  lines, 
their  longitudinal  one  rather  more  than  three,  and  when  in  situ,  eight 
are  included  within  a  linear  inch.  There  are  eighty-four  on  the  late- 
ral line,*  and  twenty-two  in  a  vertical  row  under  the  dorsal,  of  which 
nine  are  above  th<}  lateral  line,  and  eight  between  it  and  the  ventrals. 
The  lateral  line  is  straight. 

"  Form. — Body  compressed,  back  rounded,  belly  slightly  flattened, 
the  greatest  thickness,  however,  being  at  the  lateral  line,  which  is 
rather  nearer  to  the  back  than  to  the  belly ;  the  he'^ht  of  the  body, 
at  the  dorsal,  is  double  its  thickness.  Profile  like  that  of  C.  Lucidus, 
the  head  being,  however,  more  acute.!  The  snout  is  obtuse,  when 
seen  in  front  or  from  above,  and  the  vertex  is  smooth  and  rounded  in 
the  recent  fish  ;  in  the  dried  specimen  the  radiated  tubular  lines  near 
the  nape,  the  sagittal  ridge  and  other  eminences,  appear  as  in  C.  Lu- 
cidus,  but  not  so  prominently.  The  length  of  the  head  is  more  than 
ona-fourth  of  the  distance  between  the  tip  of  the  snout  and  end  of  the 
scalas  on  the  caudal,  and  somewua*,  less  than  one-fifth  cf  the  total 
leagth,  including  the  lobes  of  the  cani..'.  In  the  position  of  the  eye, 
and  the  forms  of  the  jaws  anil  opcrcil.u*  boaes,  this  species  scarcely 
differs  from  C.  Lucidus.  When  !,U3  mouth  is  fully  open,  its  orifice 
measures  seven  lines  vertically,  and  five  and  a  half  transversely  ;  the 
under  jaw,  which  is  narrow,  1  nv,  not  iioute-  then  projects  about  four 
lines  beyond  the  articulations  of  the  labials. 

"  Teeth,  none  en  the  jaws,  vomer,  or  palate,  but  three  rows  of  very 
slender  ones  on  the  tongue  may  be  perceived  by  the  aid  of  a  lens. 
Rakers  stiff,  subulate,  and  rough  on  the  margins,  the  middle  ones  of 
the  first  arch,  which  are  the  largest,  measuring  dve  lines. 

*  One  specimen  had  only  seventy-seven  scales  on  the  lateral  line,  but  the  same  as 
the  above  in  a  vertical  row. 

t  The  figure,  which  was  taken  from  a  dded  specimen,  jjK-  dents  a  less  elegant  pro- 
tile  than  that  of  the  recent  fish. 


402 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


"  Fins.— Br.  9—9 ;  D.  12  or  13-0  ;  P.  16 ;  V.  12  ;  A.  13 ;  C. 

*'  The  ventrals  originate  under  the  sixth  or  seventh  dorsal  ray,  but 
the  structure  and  form  of  all  the  fins  are  nearly  as  in  C.  Lucidus. 
The  adipose  is  not  supported  by  interspinous  bones,  but  it  exhibits  in 
the  dried  specimen  a  very  fine,  apparently  fibrous  structure,  which  en- 
tirely disappears  when  the  fin  is  moistened.  In  one  specimen  the 
centre  between  the  tip  of  the  snout  and  end  of  scales  on  the  caudal, 
corresponds  with  the  first  ray  of  the  ventrals  and  thirtieth  scale  of  the 
lateral  line ;  in  another  it  is  a  little  posterior  to  the  first  ventral  ray, 
being  at  the  thirty-third  scale  of  the  lateral  line :  in  the  last  specimen 
the  lateral  line  has  seven  scales  more  than  the  other." 


PERCIDJE. 


408 


ACANTIIOFTERYGIl. 


PERCID^. 


THE  PIKE  PEARCH. 


YELLOW  PIKE  PERCH,  OR  AMERICAN  8ANDRE. 

Lucioperca  Amerirana ;  DeKay. 

In  speaking  of  this  fish  in  the  btdy  of  this  work,  not  having  then 
seen  it,  I  borrowed  both  the  description  and  the  cut  from  Dr.  DeKaj's 
Fauna  of  New  York. 

The  cut,  1  regret  to  say,  is  very  incorrect,  especially  as  regards  the 
position  of  the  ventral  fins,  which,  as  in  the  subbrachial  Malacopterygii 
and  the  Bass  group  of  the  Percida^  are  attached  to  the  humeral  bones, 
and  situate  immediately  below  the  pectorals. 

The  following  is  the  description,  with  measurement,  of  very  fine  spe- 
cimens, sent  to  me  by  Mr.  Mandeville,  of  Geneva : 

Head  prolonged,  snout-like,  with  a  flattened  depression  above  the 
eyes.  Preoperculum  nearly  vertical,  scalloped  rather  than  dentated 
on  the  under  margin.  The  op  rculum  has  three  flat  ai  ^lar  processes, 
corresponding  to  a  lino  drawn  from  the  snout  through  ti  e  centre  of  the 
orbit,  and  a  pointed  membrane  beyond. 

Eye  very  large,  nearly  equidistant  between  the  snout  tnd  the  oper- 
cie. 

Dental  system  most  forn,idable ;  several  powerful  recurved  canine 
tusks  at  the  extremity  of  each  jaw,  those  of  the  lower  received  into 
corresponding  cavities  of  the  uppc  jaw  ;  a  series  of  smaller  hooked 
teeth  on  the  labials,  and  a  row  of  very  long  sharp  recurved  tusks  on 
the  palatines ;  no  teeth  on  the  tongue  or  vomer. 

Whole  length,  19  inches  ;  from  snout  to  posterior  angle  of  opercle, 
ly  inches ;  fron)  snout  to  centre  of  eye,  IJ  inch  ;  to  origin  of  the  pec- 
torals, 4f  inches ;  of  ventrals,  5|. ;  of  anal,  11^ ;  of  caudal,  16^ ;  of  first 
dorsal,  5  ;  of  second  dorsal,  10^,     Breadth,  5^  inches ;  thickness,  2^. 

Branchiostpgous  rays,  0. 

Pectorals  thirteen  Koft  rays ;  vnntrals  on"  npine  five  branched  rays  ; 
anal  one  spine  twelve  branclicJ  iiiys ;  caudal  deeply  furcate,  nineteen 


404 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


rays  ;  first  dorsal,  fifteen  spines,  first  three  short,  fourth  and  fifth  long- 
est ;  second  dorsal,  two  short  spines,  seventeen  soft  rays.  The  ventrals 
are  placed,  as  iu  the  subbrachial  Malacopterygii,  immediately  below, 
and  a  little  behind  the  pectorals. 

The  dorsal  outline  is  slightly  curved,  and  descending  abruptly  to 
the  snout,  above  the  operculum  ;  the  lateral  line  is  nearly  concurrent 
with  the  dorsal  outline  ;  ventral  outline  much  curved. 

The  pectoral  fins  are  golden  yellow  ;  the  ventrals  and  anal,  ruddy 
orange ;  dorsals,  transparent  yellowish  green,  mottled  with  blackish 
gray.  Head,  blackish  brown  above.  Gill-covers,  golden  yellow, 
mottled  with  purplish  gray.  Back,  above  the  lateral  line,  purplish 
brown,  with  a  golden  spot  on  the  edge  of  every  Rcale,  giving  it  a  beau- 
tiful dappled  hue.  The  sides  down  to  the  pectorals,  and  in  a  lino 
thence  to  the  anal,  beautifully  mottled  with  vivid  golden  yellow  and 
purplish  brown,  running  in  irregular  wavy  diagonal  lines,  upward  and 
backward.     Belly  pure  white. 

This*  is  a  beautiful  fish,  and  as  good  and  game  as  he  is  beautiful. 

In  Seneca  Lake  these  fish  will  rarely  take  the  bait  in  trolling  or 
spinning  ;  but  in  Cayuga  they  arc  constantly  so  taken  with  Shiners,  or 
by  trolling  with  two  hooks  about  two  and  a  half  inches  apart,  baited 
;vith  a  frog,  one  hook  through  the  lip,  the  other  through  the  thigh, 
■yhich,  as  the  frog  is  drawn  along,  gives  it  a  natural  swimming  motion. 

The  Pike  Perch  fights  hard  and  pulls  very  strongly.  The  same 
tackb  as  for  Pickerel  is  the  best. 

His  flesh  is  delicate  and  delicious  ;  boiled,  he  is  best  with  parsley 
and  butter  or  egg  sauce ;  but  in  no  way  is  he  other  than  a  good  table 


PERCIDJE. 


405 


AOANTHOPTERYGII. 


PERCID^. 


SOUTHERN  SEA  FISHES. 


It  is  a  source  of  much  regret  and  disappointment  to  me  that  a  num- 
ber of  specimens,  which  I  was  promised  from  Charleston,  have  not 
come  to  hand  in  season  for  this  edition ;  I  reliod  on  them  wherefrom 
to  draw  figures  and  compile  descriptions  of  several,  to  me,  new  genera^ 
which  I  can  now  only  name  by  their  provincial  appellations,  which, 
being  incorrect  and  local,  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  books. 

The  principal  of  these  are  the  Cavalle,  and  Horse  Cavallc,  two  fish 
of  the  Percoid  family,  s'  jngly  spined,  which  are  said  to  be  bold 
biters,  and  the  former  a  very  fine  fish.  Besides  these,  there  is  the 
Southern  Black  Fish,  entirely  different  from  the  Tautog,  or  Northern 
Black  Fish,  and  having  a  much  larger  mouth ;  several  varieties  of 
Mullet,  and  the  far-famed  Pompano  of  Florida,  a  fish  of  the  Mack- 
arel  family. 

Of  late  years,  the  Tautog  and  Boston  Bay  Whiting  have  been  intro- 
duced into  the  Bay  of  Charleston,  and  are  said  to  be  greatly  thriving 
and  becoming  abundant 

None  of  these  fish,  as  I  am  informed  by  my  friend  Mr.  King,  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  the  keenest  fisherman  of  those  waters,  are 
ever  taken  except  with  the  hand-line,  with  a  heavy  sinker  and  clam 
bait,  the  rod  and  reel  being  ignored  and  voted  useless  by  the  anglers 
in  the  deep-sea  line. 

I  trust,  at  some  future  period,  to  procure  more  and  authentic  infor- 
mation touching  these  fishes  ;  but  in  lack  of  certain  and  positive  inior- 
mation,  I  prefer  silence  to  either  theory  or  error. 


ij^^i.  ^  T5v^^ 


PART   II, 


THE 


FISHING 


Irara. 


SALMON    FISIIINU 


400 


SALMON   FISHING. 


On  rcconsidoiing  what  I  havi'  written  in  the  body  of  the  work,  I 
perceive  that  I  have  written  vhat  too  rapidly,  taking  matters  for 

granted  which  are  granted  witli  ,  -hed  angler,  and  therefore  passing 
them  over  without  coniiuent,  w  .lerc,  perhaps,  they  need  to  a  novice 
farther  explanation. 

I  shall  therefore  recapitulate,  first,  the  implements,  and  then  the 
modus  operandi. 

THE  SALMON-ROD  AND  TACKLE. 


My  description  of  the  Salmon-rod,  on  page  240,  is  nearly  unobjec- 
tionable, so  far  as  it  goes.  Experience  makes  the  angler  dread  whale- 
bone ;  I  think  that  it  should  never  be  used  in  any  rod,  particularly  on 
the  tip  of  the  top  joint  of  a  Salmon-rod  ;  it  will  curve,  and  by  pressure 
cease  to  be  elastic,  or  spring.  I  have  seen  the  worst  effects  from  its 
use.  The  stationary  curve  or  bond  of  the  extreme  end  of  the  tip  will, 
despite  of  every  precaution,  cause  the  line  to  coil  round  the  top,  and 
then,  "  where  are  you  .'"  reel  useless — tackle  gone — fish  gone  !  Any- 
thing but  whalebone.  Split  bamboo,  spliced,  is  preferable  to  any 
other  wood.  Lance-wood  is  good — very  good.  All  modern  Salmon- 
rods  are  made  with  ferrules  and  cappings,  each  of  which  is  received 
into  a  socket  of  metal,  brass,  or  German  silver,  let  into  the  receiving- 
joint.  This  is  all  very  neat  and  convenient;  but  I  never  would  think 
of  throwing  a  fly  for  a  Salmon,  with  a  rod  of  this  character,  without 
loop -ties,  as  security  against  the  joints  loosening  or  flying  apart. 

The  continiiod  use  and  action  of  a  powtM'ful  eighteen-fect  rod,  when 
Bubjccted  to  the  constant  tug  and  work  of  a  Salmon,  will  loosen  them,  1 
care  not  how  well  made,  or  how  closely  fitted  ;  and  even  with  the  loop- 
ties,  I  have  known  the  very  best  to  shake,  and  make  one  also  shake. 
27 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


410 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


Scrowed  joints  are,  I  think,  not  lasting ;  they  very  soon  get  worn  and 
shaky,  and  make  a  man  timid ;  for  in  Salmon  fishing,  one  should  have 
tho  most  unbounded  confidencs  in  his  tackle.  I  cannot  overcome  my 
respect  and  reverence  for  the  old-fashioned  spliced  rod ;  with  it  one 
lias  elasticity,  firmness,  and  strength,  combined  with  lightness.  A 
modern  ei^hteen-feet  rod  must  weigh  at  least  two  pounds  twelve 
ounces.  The  spliced  rod,  same  length,  will  not  weigh  more  than  two 
pounds  two  ounces ;  and  ten  ounces  additional  weight  is  no  joke  in  a 
day's  cast. 

Every  Salmon-rod  should  be  provided  with  a  spike  to  screw  into 
the  butt ;  it  is  all-important  for  many  purposes,  and  every  Salmon- 
fisher  knows  the  use  of  it.  The  great  fault  in  most  Salmon  rods  is  the 
imperfect  and  ignorant  "ringing."  The  modern  rods  have  too  few 
and  too  small  rings;  too  many  are  better  than  too  few,  particularly 
on  the  top  joint.     The  very  best  rods  now  have  sixteen  rings. 

One  hundred  yards  of  line  is  abundant  for  the  heaviest  Salmon ;  \ 
and  I  believe  that  no  Salmon  was  ever  lost  owing  to  shortness  of  line, 
with  one  of  this  length  on  the  reel.  Every  experienced  angler  for  Sal- 
mon knows  that  a  Salmon  is,  unlike  the  Bass,  not  a  "  run-away"  fish. 
His  run  seldom  exceeds  fifteen  or  twenty  yards,  and  even  then,  like  a 
trotting  horse,  he  requires  a  tight  rein  to  make  him  "  go."  In  Salmon- 
fishing  it  answers  very  well  where  you  have  eighty  or  a  hundred  yards 
of  line  on  the  reel,  to  have  the  taper  gradual  from  the  fortieth  or  fif- 
tieth yard,  the  centre  of  the  line,  to  the  reel  end,  and  from  the  cen- 
tre to  the  fly  '^nd ;  and  thtis,  when  necessity  requires  it,  the  reel  end 
can  be  changed  to  the  fly  end,  and  the  old  fly  end  made  the  reel  end. 
I  have  killed  my  share  of  Salmon,  and  I  never  had  a  fish  take  seventy- 
five  yards  from  me,  even  in  a  large  lake,  where  they  had  plenty  of 


"sea-room." 


A  friend  of  mine  struck  a  very  heavy  fish  on  Loch  Corrib,  in  the 
County  Galway,  in  Ireland.  The  water  was  very  rough,  and  he 
was  standing  on  a  projecting  rock  which  ran  out  of  a  small  island, 
opposite  to  the  beautiful  village  of  Ouchterard.  He  had  light  tackle, 
and  not  more  than  seventy  yards  of  line  on  his  reel.  He  killed  the  fish 
after  about  one  hour's  work  ;  and  that  fish  did  not  run  off  fifty  yards  of 
his  line.  His  weight  was  eleven  pounds,  much  lighter  than  the  angler 
expected  when  he  first  struck  him. 


SALMON    FISfllirO, 


411 


The  use  of  two  or  more  flies,  when  fishing  for  Salmon  in  a  river, 
would  be  an  experiment,  I  think,  dangoroiu  in  the  extreme  ;  and  even 
in  lakes  I  have  never  seen  any  man  use  even  two  flieM,  when  fishing  with 
the  rod. 

A  true  Salmon  fisher  should  disdain  and  «purn  the  use  of  double 
gut.  A  friend,  instructed  by  the  best  fisherman  during  his  day,  states 
that  he  never  shall  forget  his  direction,  vie : — "  Let  your  tackle  be 
of  the  lightest  kind,  consistent  with  strength,"  lie  never  used  double 
gut.  I  never  have,  and  never  will.  The  link  on  which  the  fly  is  tied 
should  be  finer  and  more  slender  than  the  link  to  which  it  is  looped  or 
knotted.  The  end  of  the  casting-line,  which  is  united  to  the  reel-line, 
should  be  the  thickest  and  strongest  portion  of  the  gut,  and  the  whole 
should  taper  to  the  fly.  Three  yards  and  a  half  is  the  proper  length 
from  fly  to  reel-line.  This  instruction  is  all-important,  as  I  hope  to 
show,  when  speaking  of  Trout. 


THE    CASTINO-LINE. 

The  casting-line  should  be  looped,  for  Salmon  fishing,  to  the  reel- 
line.  The  loops  on  both  should  bo  securely  whipped  with  strong  and 
well-waxed  silk.  The  casting-line,  without  the  addition  of  the  fly 
links,  should  be  three  yards,  and  no  more ;  and  every  knot  on  the 
casting-line  should  be  the  water-knot^  which  is  the  simplest  knot  in  the 
world,  being  the  common  tic-knot,  with  two  or  three  turns  round 
itself  instead  of  one.  For  Salmon  fishing  three  knots  are  necessary, 
though  two  are  sufficient  for  Trout. 

Each  knot  should  be  well  secured  by  whipping  with  waxed  silk  ;  and 
at  the  end  of  the  line  a  link  should  be  made,  and  well  secured  as  above. 

The  link  upon  which  the  fly  is  tied,  should  be  knotted  with  the  wa- 
ter-knot, as  described,  to  another  link,  upon  which  a  loop  should  be 
made,  also  well  secured  by  whipping. 

Thus,  then,  we  have  two  links  upon  which  the  fly  is  tied.  The  loop 
then  upon  the  fly-link  is  looped  to  the  casting-line,  and  thus  the  cast- 
ing-line is  about  three  yards  and  a  half  in  length  from  reel-line  to  fly. 
By  this  mode,  the  dii^pdvantage  arising  from  the  double  loop  on  the 
casting-line  is  partly  obviated  by  having  the  loop  removed  a  consider- 
able distance  from  the  fly. 


412 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


This  is  my  Salmon  casting-lino,  and  experience  and  close  observa* 
tion  enables  me  to  say,  with  confidence,  that  it  is  the  proper  one. 

On  page  244, 1  have  stated  that  "  the  mode  is  identical,"  that  is, 
of  casting  the  fly  for  the  Trout  and  the  Salmon.  What  I  intended 
here  to  say  is  simply,  that  the  effect  to  be  aimed  at  is  the  same ;  the 
mode  of  operation  is  certainly  in  some  sort  different.  The  wielding 
of  an  eighteen-feet  Salmon-rod,  as  done  with  both  hands,  certainly 
differs  from  the  handling  with  one  hand  of  the  light  twelve-feet  rod. 

The  former  requires  more  power,  slowness  and  steadiness  of  arm ; 
and  far  more  caution  is  needed  to  prevent  the  fly  from  cracking  off. 

It  is  the  most  difficult  thing  in  the  world  to  describe  motions  of  the 
arm,  so  as  to  be  distinctly  understood ;  much  more,  motions  of  an  im- 
plement so  delicate  as  a  fly-rod. 

With  regard  to  the  mode  of  casting  or  delivering  the  fly,  I  have 
nothing  to  add  to  the  instructions  given  on  page  246  oi  the  body  of 
the  work.  I  will,  however,  add,  that  in  playing  a  heavy  fish,  hooked  \ 
on  a  single  gut,  it  is  very  well,  "  beside  advancing  the  butt,  and  bear- 
ing your  rod  backward  over  your  right  shoulder,"  to  lower  the  body 
by  bending  the  knees  as  much  as  possible,  or  even  kneeling  down,  as 
by  so  doing  you  diminish  and  equalise  the  strain  on  that  most  delicate 
of  instruments,  the  long  Salmon-rod. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  a  moment  longer  may  be  given  to  a  Salmon, 
before  striking,  than  to  a  Trout ;  many  good  writers  recommend  allow- 
ing him  to  turn  before  striking,  but  with  this  I  do  not  coincide. 

My  own  idea  is  like  shooting  on  the  first  aim — always  to  strike,  and 
to  kill,  with  judgment,  as  quickly  .ia  you  can ;  never  giving  a  moment  of 
time,  or  an  inch  of  line,  which  jou  can  avoid  giving. 

On  the  subject  of  flies,  it  is  not  necessary  to  say  more.  All  largo 
and  gaudy  flies,  on  Limerick  hooks,  will  kill  in  some  state  or  other  of 
some  waters ;  and  with  a  pretty  good  assortment,  the  angler  has  only 
got  to  change  till  he  finds  one  to  which  the  fish  will  rise,  and  then 
Htick  to  that. 

And  so,  adieu  to  Salmon  Fishing. 


// 


TROUT   FISHING. 


413 


TROUT-FISHING. 


THE   IMPLEMENTS. 

With  regard  to  the  rod,  as  described  on  page  254, 1  have  little  or 
DO  more  to  say. 

Different  persons  approve  of  different  degrees  of  pliancy  in  rods, 
Irish  anglers  generally  using  one  much  more  pliant  than  their  English 
brethren.  ' 

My  correspondent  referred  to  above,  writes  to  me  in  reference  to 
my  description,  thus :  and  his  theory  and  practice  are  both  so  good, 
that  I  cannot  do  better  than  again  quote  him,  as  I  agree  fully  with 
every  word. 

THE    TROUT-ROD. 


"A  PLIANT  Trout-rod,  in  the  hand  of  a  fly-fisher,  is  a  comfort.  Per- 
sons who  use  spliced  rods  can  handle  a  very  pliant  one,  but  the  great 
majority  of  anglers,  as  you  are  aware,  use  the  jointed  rods ;  and  it  is 
almost  impossible  for  '  an  old  hand,'  who  has  for  years  used  a  spliced 
rod,  to  procure  one  sufficiently  pliant. 

A  rod  can,  however,  be  too  pliant,  even  in  the  hand  of  the  most  ex- 
perienced. Every  man  who  has  used  a  very  pliant  rod,  knows  that 
when  preparing  for  a  fresh  cast,  the  line  will  catch  before  it  can  be 
carried  sufficiently  back  to  make  the  forward  movement ;  and  the  effect 
is,  that  in  the  effort  to  obviate  the  threatened  difficulty,  a  fly  will  crack 
off.  Now,  I  use  a  very  pliant  rod ;  but  I  am  an  Irishman,  and  learned 
my  trade  in  that  land  of  lake  and  river.  You  are  an  Englishman, 
and  I  suppose  became  master  of  your  trade  there.  The  English  use 
comparatively  stiff  rods.  A  rod  should  not  be  pliant  below  the  second 
joint      It  is  no  easy  matter  to  describe  one.     Your  length,  twelve 


414 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


foet,  is  e::actly  up  to  my  notion  The  weight  shou'i  not  exceed  thir- 
teen or  fourteen  ounces ;  and  above  all,  it  should  not  be  top-heavy. 
In  stormy  weather,  a  very  pliant  rod,  even  in  the  hands  of  the  best 
angler,  is  very  inconvenient  and  laborious ;  and  when  used  in  such 
weather,  nothing  short  of  constant  care  and  exertion  will  save  the  flies 
from  snapping  off. 

"  You  omit  to  ment'on  the  necessity  for  a  spike  in  the  butt.  Every 
fly-rod  should  have  it.  In  case  a  new  cast  of  flies  is  required,  or  any 
change,  what  a  convenience  to  have  the  rod  erect,  and  the  line  hang- 
ing down  to  your  hand.  How  many  rods  get  broken  when  stretched 
on  the  ground,  by  some  careless  devil  standing  on  the  tip ;  or  the  tip 
being  obstructed  by  weed  or  brier,  in  a  sudden  and  careless  lift. 

"  You  give  no  directions  about  the  number  of  rings.  A  rod  should 
have  sixteen.  Avoid  whalebone  tip.  There  should  be  no  percepti- 
ble spring  in  a  fly-rod  before  three  and  a  half  feet  from  the  spike  ;  a 
spring  below  that  will  inevitably  make  the  rod  top-heavy.  Three  i 
yards  is  the  length  of  the  casting-line,  but  never  more  than  three  and 
a  half. 

"  You  say 'the  flies  should  be  three  in  number.'  Not  always — there 
are  exceptions,  many  exceptions.  In  confined  streams,  where  there 
are  bushes,  weeds,. &c.,  one  fly  is  as  much  as  can  be  managed  or  used. 
Also,  in  streams  where  the  fish  are  very  numerous,  one  fly  is  plenty, 
particularly  with  the  light  tackle,  which  a  gentleman  and  an  anglei 
should  use.  In  clear  water,  lakes  and  ponds,  three  flies  are  the  proper 
number, 

"  Now  to  return  to  the  casting-line.  On  a  casting-line  no  loops  of 
any  kind  should  be  used,  because  they  are  unnecessary ;  and  every  un- 
necessary bulk,  or  uneven  surface,  which  may  make  a  splash,  or 
frighten  fish,  should  be  avoided.  To  the  reel-line,  splice  a  link  of  the 
strongest  gut ;  that  is,  proportionate  with  the  tapering  gut  of  the  cast- 
ing-line, which  is  a  fixture,  until  used  up  by  constant  cutting,  when 
another  is  put  on 

"  Let  the  casting-line  be  nine  feet,  the  largest  and  stoutest  links  at 
the  top,  graduating  t:)  the  bottom.  To  the  bottom  or  last  link,  knot 
the  link  upon  which  the  tail  or  stretcher-fly  is  tied.  Three  feet  from 
the  end  of  tho  casting-line,  before  the  tail-fly  is  put  up,  or  three  feet 
eight  or  nine  inches  from  the  tail-fly,  use  this  knot : 


V 


r 


TROUT    FISHING. 


415 


Two  feet  from  the  first  knot,  have  a  similar  knot.  The  ends  of  all  the 
other  knots,  except  the  one  which  secures  the  tail-fly,  tie  neatly  with 
waxed  silk,  as  near  the  color  of  the  casting-line  as  you  can.  I'he  knot 
should  be  the  'water-knot.'  Let  the  first  dropper  or  drop-fly  be  tied 
on  gut  three  and  a  half  or  four  inches  long,  the  second  a  shade  longer. 
Upon  the  end  of  each  link  upon  which  the  drop-fly  is  tied,  let  the  knot 
be  that  in  the  cut.  The  slip-knot  on  the  casting-line,  as  depicted  in 
the  plate,  can  be  pulled  open  by  catching  the  little  projections  on  each 
side,  and  pulling  them  apart.  I  insert  the  knot  end  of  the  drop-fly 
between  the  opening  or  two  links,  and  then  pull  the  knot  together,  and 
the  dropper  hangs  perpendicular.  There  is  no  more  secure  or  neater 
knot ;  every  cast  tends  to  increase  its  security ;  and  there  is  no  con- 
trivance whereby  the  drop-flies  can  work,  or  hang  so  well.  The  reason 
why  we  whip  or  tie  the  ends  of  all  the  knots  save  those  for  the  drop- 
pers and  tuil-fly,  is,  that  when  fishing  in  stream  or  pond,  if  the  projec- 
tions of  the  knots  are  exposed,  the  casting-line  will  constantly  become 
foul  and  heavy,  by  every  floating  piece  of  grass  or  stuff",  which  will  ad- 
here to  the  sharp  projections  of  the  knots. 

"  Objections  may  be  made)  to  knotting  the  tail-fly  to  the  casting-line, 
and  thus  making  it  a  fixture.  The  answer  to  this  is,  that  the  advan- 
tage is  far  greater  than  the  disadvantage.  One  can  in  a  moment  slip 
out  either  or  both  his  droppers,  by  drawing  apart  the  knot,  and  in- 
82rt  other  flies ;  or  he  can,  as  every  man  should,  when  fishing,  have  a 
perfect  mounted  casting-line  '  all  round  his  hat ;'  and  it  is  only  the 
work  of  a  moment  to  cut  the  discarded  casting-line  from  the  stationary 
link  attached  to  the  reel-line,  and  tie  on  the  substitute.     Or  one  may 


416 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


out  the  casting-line  in  use  close  up  to  the  knot  which  secures  the 
tail-fly,  and  tie  on  another — the  loss  of  gut  is  trifling — and  when,  by 
constant  cutting,  the  link  becomes  short,  he  ties  on  a  new  one. 

"  There  is  one  other  remark  worth  mentioning.  The  tail-fly  should 
be  the  heaviest,  the  first  dropper  should  be  lesp  :n  size,  and  the  hand- 
fly,  or  second  dropper,  less  than  the  first ;  and  let  the  Angler  be  as- 
sured, that  attention  to  these  apparently  minor  matters  tend  to  fill  his 
creel  and  save  his  fly.  This  is  the  true  idea  of  a  casting-line.  A  man 
should  be  particular  in  his  tackle,  and  he  is  as  much  entitled  to  credit 
for  its  neatness  as  for  dexterity  in  its  use. 


ON    THE    USE    OP    THE    ROD. 


"  Every  angler  should  learn  to  use  the  rod  with  either  hand ;  and 
no  man  is  a  finished,  safe,  expert,  or  self-saving  angler  who  cannot  use  \\ 
the  left  as  well  as  the  right  hand.  To  say  nothing  about  a  sprained 
wrist,  and  consequent  loss  of  sport  during  the  season,  or  being  obliged 
to  cease  fishing  from  the  fatigue  and  weakness  of  one  hand,  there  are 
certain  winds,  in  some  situations,  when  and  where  a  cast  cannot  be 
made  with  the  right  hand. 

"  Again,  it  is  important  to  be  able  to  throw  a  fly  in  the  teeth  of  the 
wind,  which,  when  done  properly,  often  lifts  the  very  best  fish.  It  is 
not  difficult,  but  it  is  a  little  laborious,  and  needs  practice.  It  is  not 
accomplished  either  by  the  double  or  single  turn  ;  it  is  done  by  bring- 
ing the  rod  right  up  in  front,  avoiding,  if  possible,  the  wind  taking  the 
rod  to  the  right  or  left.  Now  when  the  rod  is  almost  straight,  press  the 
butt  strong  towards  the  body  with  the  wrist,  keeping  the  arm  as  close 
to  the  side  as  possible,  until  the  tip  comes  about  three-quarters 
straight  against,  or  in  the  eye  of  the  wind ;  and  then  run  the  arm  out 
directly  forward,  turning  the  wrist,  during  the  forward  action,  outside, 
or  towards  the  right  side.  By  this  mode,  which  is  more  easily  done 
than  described,  the  line,  which  should  bo  only  of  manageable  length, 
will  unfold,  and  display  a  pretty  fair  cast ;  at  all  events,  the  waves,  or 
turbulent  state  of  the  water,  will  conceal  the  defective  fall  of  the  flies 

"  Every  angler  should  tie  his  own  casting-line ;  no  dependance  can 
be  placed  on  those  purchased,  for  the  reason  that  very  few  taekle-sel- 


TROUT    FISHING. 


417 


hrs  aro  practical  fly-iishsrs,  and  do  not  know  tho  necessity,  and  will 
not  take  tho  pains,  of  making  a  tapering  line. 

"  A  casting-lino  will  cost  seventy-five  cents  at  the  tackle  store ;  made 
at  home,  they  cost  about  eightocn  cents.  It  is  important  then,  on  the 
score  of  economy,  as  well  as  success,  that  the  angler  should  make  his 
own  casting-line. 

"  It  is  therefore  important  that  the  proper  knots  should  be  known 
by  name,  and  how  to  make  them. 

"  There  are  but  three  knots  suitable  for  angling,  to  wit :  the  slip- 
knot, described  in  the  cut  above,  which  is  only  fit  for  the  insertion  of 
the  drop-flies ;  the  water-knot,  and  the  knot,  or  mode  of  finishing  a 
knot,  which  might  be  termed  the  '  finishing-knot.' 

"  The  slip-knot  need  not  be  described — it  is  plain  enough  in  the 
drawing. 

"  The  water-knot  is  the  most  simple  of  all  knots.  It  is  the  ^eom- 
mon  knot,^  passing  or  turning  the  ends  to  be  united  twice  round  each 
other,  and  then  pulling  them  together.  It  is  only  necessary  to  pass 
thorn  twice  round  ;  it  is  enough,  although  some  persons  use  three  turns 
It  is  the  smallest  knot  by  which  gut  can  be  united.  When  the  knot 
is  pulled  tight,  then  cut  off  the  ends,  leaving  a  little  remaining  for  the 
whipping  or  fastening.  The  projecting  ends  should  then  be  fastened 
with  thin  but  strong  silk,  waxed  with  white  wax.  Every  practical 
angler  knows  how  to  finish  off,  or  secure  the  end  of  the  silk.  The  silk 
is  wound  round  the  projecting  and  main  gut,  until  within  six  or  seven 
turns  or  rounds  of  the  end  of  tl  •  p-ojecting  bit  of  gut;  then  turn  the 
point  of  the  silk  towards  the  kno^.  and  continue  the  winding  around 
the  end  of  the  silk  which  has  be'^':^  turned  towards  the  knot,  until  the 
winding  is  finished,  then  pull  the  end  tight  under  the  whipping,  and 
the  fastening  is  secure  and  invisible." 


418 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


OF  TROLLING  FOR  LAKE-TROUT 


Iir   HAMILTON  COUNTY,  NEW-YORK 


(it  a  IPBOUL  OOMBBirOUDBNT.) 


I  PROPOSK,  in  this  connexion,  to  treat  of  this  fine  and  exciting  sport, 
doscribiiig  iMt,    The  rod  ; 

2Dd,  The  reel ;  " 

^        3rd,  The  line, 

4th,    The  leader,  and  train  of  hooks ;  \\ 

5th,   The  bait  and  flics  ; 

6th,   The  bait-kettle ; 

7lh,   The  boat  and  oarsman,  or  guide ; 

8th,   The  manner  of  striking  the  fish,  when  the  bait  is  taken. 
And  lastly,  iHh,  How  to  play,  and  gafi'  the  fish. 

1st,  Thk  Kod. — A  mutual  friend  of  ours,  who  writes  occasionally 
for  the  "  »Sjw'n7,'*  and  who  is  a  most  skilful  troller,  wrote  an  article 
which  appeared  in  the  "  Spirit "  in  the  fall  of  1848,  signed  "  M.,  Maa- 
peth,  Long  Iwland,"  in  which  he  gave  a  capital  description  on  most 
of  the  abovd  heads.  I  wish  you  had  the  paper,  as  it  is  all  that  is  to 
be  said  on  the  subject. 

The  trolling-rod  spoken  of  by  you  on  page  327,  would  answer,  to 
wit :  the  barbed  rod.  *  *  *  had  two  of  the  most  perfect  trolling 
rods  I  have  scon ;  they  were  made  by  Ben.  Welch,  of  Cherry-street, 
and  arc  all  bamboo  cane.  I  had  one  made  by  George  Karr,  of  Grand- 
street,  which  I  like  very  much  ;  and  I  will  describe  it  the  best  way  1 
can,  although  it  is  no  easy  matter  to  describe  on  paper  a  rod  of  any 
kind  :— L(;ngth  from  eleven  to  thirteen  feet ;  butt  of  ash,  thoroughly 
siiason^td,  about  one  and  a  quarter  inches  in  diameter,  or  about  as  thick 
as  an  ordinary  Bass-rod.     The  butt  should  be  hollow,  to  contain  spare: 


TROLLING  FOR  LAKE  TROUT. 


410 


tips.  Tho  second,  third  and  fourth  joints  should  be  bamboo,  so  that 
when  tho  rod  is  put  together,  it  will  be  about  twelve  feet. 

The  rod  should  have  two  spare  tips ;  one  should  be  stronger  and 
shorter  than  the  other,  to  vary  the  fishing  according  to  tho  state  of  the 
weather,  and  circumstances. 

Tho  fourth  or  last  joint,  tip,  should  bo  about  three  feet,  thinner, 
and  more  pliant  than  the  spare  tops  which  fit  in  the  bored  butt.  The 
first  spare  top  should  bo  two  feet  long,  stiffer  and  stronger  than  the 
original  top.  The  second  spare  top  should  bo  about  fourteen  inches 
long,  strong  and  stiff;  and  in  heavy  weather,  this  strong,  stiff  top  will 
be  the  one  to  use. 

Rod-making  has  been  brought  to  such  perfection,  it  would  be  a 
waste  of  time  to  give  further  instructions ;  but  still  I  only  know  two 
men  in  this  city  who  can  make  a  true  trolling-rod,  viz : — Ben.  Welch, 
of  Cherry-street,  and  George  Karr,  of  Grand-street,  near  Broadway. 

Rings  should  never  be  used  on  rods  of  this  character.  The  ^'  rail- 
road" through  which  the  line  travels,  constitutes  one  of  the  peculiari- 
ties of  this  rod.  Rings  interfere  with,  and  impede  the  line,  and  should 
not  be  used.  The  guides  used  by  Welch  are  the  only  true  ones — they 
are  neat,  light,  with  a  thin  flat  shank,  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in 
length,  which  is  firmly  secured  on  the  different  joints.  There  should 
be  very  few  guides  on  the  rod — five,  I  consider  sufficient,  exclusive  of 
the  metal  case  at  the  top  of  each  tip.  This  metal  case  should  have  a 
round3d  surface,  perfectly  smooth,  and  sufficiently  large  to  allow  the 
line  to  run  without  the  slightest  obstruction  or  friction. 

Let  me  give  one  hint  before  I  take  leave  of  the  rod.  I  recommend 
that  all  troUing-rods  should  have  guides  on  both  sides — that  is,  a  guide 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  other :  not  on  the  butt,  but  on  all  joints  from 
the  butt  to  the  end ;  and  why  ?  In  this  kind  of  fishing  there  is  power- 
ful pressure  on  the  rod ;  and  the  very  best  will,  from  hard  work,  be- 
come btnt,  and  remain  bent,  and  thus  lose  its  elasticity.  To  ob- 
viate this,  turn  round  the  joints,  slip  the  line  through  the  spare  guides, 
and  in  a  few  hours  the  rod  is  "  all  straight." 


2nd.  The  Reel. — To  give  an  explanation  of  this  to  you,  woiild  be 
absurd.  I  will  simply  say,  that  No.  3  is  about  the  proper  size  for  a 
trolling-rod,  without  stop,  click,  or  multiplier.     The  line  cannot  run 


420 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


off  too  froo.     Acoording  to  my  opinion,  John  Conroy  can  make  tho 
boat  rod  in  tho  world. 

3rd.  The  Line. — One  hundred  yards  is  abundant.  Twisted  silk 
is  tho  best  lino  for  trolling.  I  know  they  kink,  when  new ;  but  very 
little  use  will  put  an  end  to  it — id  est,  knock  tho  kink  out  of  it. 

Plaited  lines  aro  very  good  and  cheap,  and  do  not  kink  ;  but  they 
absorb  the  water,  and  do  not  run  free  from  the  rod. 

A  mixture  of  hair  in  lines,  is  my  abomination.  It  is  tho  most  dan- 
gerous and  uncertain  stuff  a  man  can  use.  You  can  never  depend  on 
it ;  the  hairs  will  give  way  with  but  little  strain ;  and  when  you  hook 
tho  heaviest  fish,  the  greater  danger  is  to  be  apprehended.  I  hate 
them. 

4th.  The  Leader  and  Train  op  Hooks. — This  wor*'  "leader" 
goes  against  my  grain.  The  old  familiar  English-Irish  sound  of  "  cast- 
ing-line,^' has  a  charm  for  my  ear,  equalled  only  by  tho  still,  silent 

noise  of 

"  Ballynahinch  or  Coalello'i  flowing  waten." 

But  let  leader  go  for  trolling. 

Most  troUers  use  twisted  gut  for  a  leader,  with  a  small  swivel  at- 
tached to  one  end.  The  other  end  is  fastened  to  the  reel-line,  either 
by  loop  or  knot,  but  a  knot  is  by  far  preferable.  The  leader  should 
be  two  yards  long — some  good  and  old  hands  use  three  yards.  I  never 
use  twisted  gut.     I  prefer  a  leader  of  good  round  Salmon-gut. 

The  train  of  hooks  ia  attached  to  the  eye  of  the  swivel,  at  the  end 
of  the  leader.  The  train  is  made  of  five  hooks,  and  made  on  the  very 
best  and  most  perfect  gut,  single.  The  strand  upon  which  the  hooks 
are  tied,  is  fastened  by  a  knot  to  another  equally  strong  and  perfect 
strand,  which  is  fastened  by  a  loop  to  the  swivel  at  tho  end  of  the 
leader.  Thus  you  have  tho  rod,  reel,  line,  leader,  and  train  of  hpoks. 
Perhaps  a  sketch  of  the  train  of  hooks  will  be  better  than  an  explana- 
tion.    Here  it  is : 


A 


This  train,  you  will  perceive,  is  made  of  five  hooks.     The  lip-hook 


TROLLING    FOR    LAKE    TROUT. 


491 


should  bo  a  HJzo  or  two  smullur  than  tho  tail-hookfl — nay  No.  o  for  tho 
tall,  No.  0  for  tho  middle,  and  No.  7  for  tho  lip.  Thcso  hooks  are 
joined  iiihank  to  Hliuiik,  with  the  gut  between  them,  and  then  firmly 
tied  with  waxed  8ilk.  But  I  procured  from  Ireland  a  8ct  of  hooks 
welded  or  united  together,  and  they  ure  far  superior  to  single  hooks 
joined  by  tying  together,  for  they  frequently  double  up,  and  become 
very  troublesome.  George  Karr,  before  named,  can  rig  this  kind  of 
train  better  than  any  man  in  this  city,  as  far  as  my  experience  goes. 

6th.  The  Bait  and  Flies. — Tho  proper  bait  is  tho  Shinor,  which 
can  be  plentifully  procured  in  uU  tho  lakes  of  Hamilton  county.  They 
are  taken  with  the  smallest  kind  of  hook.  No.  12,  with  worm  bait ; 
and  when  secured,  are  put  into  tho  bait-kettle,  and  preserved  until 
used.  Tho  mode  of  putting  the  Shiner  on  the  train  is  simple :  put  tho 
lip  or  single  hook  through  the  lip,  the  middle  hook  in  the  belly,  the  end 
hook  in  the  tail. 

Unlike  Trout-fishing  proper,  I  loop  on  my  flies  when  trolling.  About 
thirty-six  inches  from  tho  Shiner  I  loop  on  tho  leader — a  large  fly ; 
and  thirty  inches  from  that  fly  I  loop  a  smaller-sized  one,  and  then  I 
am  rigged  to  "  throw  out."  ^ 

6th.  The  Bait-Kettle. — This  is  a  most  indispensable  article  for 
the  troUer — ho  can't  get  along  without  it.  It  should  be  made  of 
strong  tin,  painted  green  outside  and  white  inside.  The  bottom  should 
be  wider  than  the  top,  but  sloping  gradually.  Conroy  has  now  in  his 
store  some  very  good  and  complete  ;  but  there  is  one  great  improve- 
ment, to  have  the  handle  lie  or  fall  inside  the  lid.  I  recommend  a  small 
gauze  ladle,  with  a  short  handle,  to  take  the  bait  from  the  kettle  when 
required — it  will  save  much  trouble,  and  injury,  if  not  death,  to  the 
"  dear  little  creatures." 

The  kettle  should  be  replenished  with  water  every  hour  ;  and  one 
unerring  sign  tliat  the  Shiner  needs  fresh  water,  is  when  he  pokes  his 
nose  to  the  surface.  When  the  fishing  is  over,  sink  the  kettle  in  the 
shoal  water,  and  secure  it,  so  that  it  cannot  be  tossed  about  by  "  wind 
or  weather." 

7th.  The  Boat  and  Oarsman,  or  Guide. — Here  you  must  trust 
to  luck — "first  come,  first  served."    But  any  person  going  to  the  hou.se 


.422 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


of  John  C.  Holmes,  at  Lake  Pleasant,  will  find  good  aooommodatioD) 
and  "  honest  John"  will  sacure  a  good  guide  and  a  good  boat ;  and 
from  experience  I  can  safely  recommend  Cowles,  Batchellor,  and  Mor- 
rell,  of  Lake  Pleasant,  as  faithful,  honest,  persevering,  Safe  and  skil- 
ful guides  and  oarsmen. 

Trolling  is  solely  done  from  the  boat.     The  troUer  sits  witli  his  faoo     „ 
to  the  stern ;  the  oarsman  in  the  middle,  or  rather  near  tbo  bow,  and 
rows  slowly  and  gently  along  the  lake ;  about  one  and  a  half  or  two 
miles  an  hour  is  the  proper  speed. 


8th.  The  Manner  of  Striking  the  Fish  when  the  Bait  is 
Taken. — Should  there  be  much  wind,  thirty-five  yards  of  lino  is  suf- 
ficient to  run  out — if  calm,  say  forty-five  or  fifty.  When  a  fish  is  felt, 
the  tip  of  the  rod  should  be  eased  off,  or  given  to  the  fish,  in  ordor  that 
he  have  time  to  take  hold ;  then  give  a  good  surge  of  the  rod,  and  you 
will  rarely  miss  striking  him.  Should  you  be  fishing*  with  two  rods, 
which  is  almost  always  the  case,  pass  the  other  rod  to  tho  oarsman 
Never  give  the  fish  an  inch,  unless  by  actual  compulsion  ;  invariably 
kee^,  him  in  hand — feel  him  at  a  distance,  but  still  bo  kind  and  gantlo, 
not  rude  or  rough.  Do  not  show  the  gaff  until  you  know  that  the  fish 
is  "  used  up ;"  if  a  small  fish,  run  the  net  under  him  ;  and  if  tho  fish 
is  spent  or  exhausted,  he  will  fall  into  it ;  but  if  he  shows  life,  draw 
him  over  the  net.  If  a  large  fish,  use  the  gaff,  which  pass  under  him, 
with  the  point  downwards ;  then  turn  it  up  inside,  and  strike  as  near 
the  shoulder  as  possible.     I  say  shoulder  instead  of  tail. 


W 


1  believe  that  I  have  now  done  with  this  branch  ;  but  lot  mo  soy, 
that  no  good  troUer  uses  load  or  sinker  of  any  kind.  I  have  soon  it 
used,  but  used  to  the  destruction  of  sport  and  tackle.  Sinkers  carry 
the  hooks  to  the  bottom,  and  there  you  stick  either  to  root  or  rock. 

When  trolling,  you  take,  on  the  average,  more  fin«  Brook  Trout 
than  Lake  Trout.     I  think  that  two  to  one  is  correct. 

One  word  as  to  the  sporting  quality  of  the  Lake  Trout.  Tho  nine 
pound  and  a  quarter  Trout,  before  mentioned,  may  perhaps  bo  an  ex- 
ception ;  but  I  do  affirm,  that  the  Lake  Trout  is  a  fish  of  game,  S]>irit, 
and  endurance. 

I  have  killed  them  from  one  to  sixteen  and  a  half  pounds.     The 


TROLLING  FOR  LAKE  TROUT. 


423 


Hixtoon  and  a  half  pound  Lake  Trout  was  hooked  by  me,  on  a  single 
gut  I'jador ;  from  the  time  I  struck  him,  till  his  capture,  was  one  hour 
and  forty-five  minutes.  During  the  first  half-hour,  he  showed  great 
bad  temper,  and  kept  the  pors^uration  fiowing  off  my  head ;  he  did  sulk 
for  half  an  hour,  but  it  was  a  moving  and  a  dragging  sulk,  unlike  the 
Salmon ;  and  during  this  sulk  he  took  me  along  the  lake  for  about  a 
mile ;  1  became  fatigued,  and  bore  so  heavy  on  him  that  I  got  him 
near  the  surface,  and  from  that  time  until  his  death  was  one  continued 
run  and  fight.  He  had  not  the  vivacity  of  the  nine  and  a  quarter 
pound  fuh,  but  still  I  had  "  my4iands  full,"  and  was  effectually  "used 
up"  when  he  was  gaffed  by  Cowlcs,  my  guide. 

'  There  is  another  mode  of  fishing  to  which  you  have  made  no  refe- 
rence, and  which  I  have  never  seen  described  or  spoken  of  in  any 
work  upon  angling.  I  mean  "  cross-fishing,"  as  practised  on  the  large 
Irish  lakes ;  and  although  it  affords  great  amusement,  still  it  is  a  spe- 
cies of  pouching,  and  should  not  be  practised  by  the  legitimate  angler. 

The  ci'OHS-line  consists  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  strong  line, 
f»iiy  thin  whip-cord,  seventy-five  yards  of  which  is  wound  on  a  card, 
similar  to  a  card  used  in  trolling  for  Blue  fish,  and  the  other  seventy- 
five  yards  on  another  or  similar  card.  In  the  centre  of  the  line,  a  flat, 
square  cork,  about  an  inch  thick,  five  inches  wide,  and  of  the  same 
length,  is  secured  to  a  loop  in  the  middle  of  the  cork,  and  made  per- 
fectly stationary,  but  still  so  secured  that  the  cork  shall  lie  fiat  and 
even  on  the  water.  To  twenty  yards,  on  both  sides  of  this  cork,  the 
flics  are  attached — that  is,  three  feet  from  the  cork,  loop  on  the  first 
fly,  and  ho  on,  every  alternuto  two  yards,  until  eight  or  nine  flies  are 
loop:!d  on  the  lino,  on  each  side  of  the  cork.  The  flies  should  be  the 
usual  lnk^-flif?H,  tied  on  twisted,  or  very  strong,  Salmon-gut  of  about  two 
feet  in  longth. 

Two  boats  arc  of  course  needed.  One  card  is  held  by  the  person 
in  one  boat,  and  the  other  by  him  in  the  second  boat.  The  line  is 
then  stretched  out  as  the  boats  separate,  until  the  hand-fly  is  distant 
about  twenty  yards  from  each  boat.  The  boats  are  slowly  rowed  along, 
in  parallel  lines.  The  line  should  be  kept  taut,  so  that  the  flics  skim 
or  danci;  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  Each  angler  knows  his  own  fish 
by  the  cork,  and  the  person  holding  the  card  on  the  opposite  side  of 
tho  cork  huH  no  right  to  kill  the  fish  which  has  been  struck  on  the  side 


424 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


nearest  to  his  friend.  There  is  much  art  and  tact  necessary  in  this 
kind  of  angling.  The  friend  who  is  not  entitled  to  the  fish  has  as 
much  sport,  and  "  work  on  hand,*'  as  the  person  in  the  opposita  boat 
— he  must  play  the  fish  with  equal  care — but  the  nicety  is,  in  man- 
aging the  flics.  Suppose  the  fish  has  taken  the  fly  next  the  cork — 
there  are,  then,  say  eight  flies  between  the  angler  and  the  fish.  Two 
modes  can  be  adopted.  Should  the  fish  be  small,  when  the  hand-fly  is 
drawn  to  the  boat,  it  should  be  laid  on  the  side,  with  the  fly  hanging 
about  a  foot  outside  the  boat ;  and  so  on  with  each  fly,  until  the  fish  is 
captured.  Should  the  fish  be  large,*  this  mode  is  dangerous ;  for, 
should  the  fish  make  a  violent  run,  the  flies  laid  over  the  side  might 
get  fast  in  the  wood,  and  play  the  deuce.  To  obviate  this,  all  the  flies 
can  be  run  up  on  the  line,  towards  the  fish — that  is,  when  the  first  fly 
comes  to  hand,  run  the  loop  along  the  line  until  it  meets  the  second 
fly,  and  so  on,  until  you  have  all  the  flies  between  you  and  the  fish,  in, 
as  it  were,  a  heap.  After  the  fish  is  killed,  a  few  moments  will  suffice 
to  re-arrange  the  tackle. 

Upon  Rackett  Lake,  Long  Lake,  Lake  Piseco,  and  other  large  wa- 
ters; this  mode  of  fishing  would  afford  gi'eat  amusement ;  and  the  only 
objection  to  it  is,  that  it  is  a  deadly  way  of  capturing  fish.  But  it  is  not 
half  so  bad,  and  is  in  fact  honorable  and  legitimate,  when  contrasted 
with  the  innumerable  "  infernal  machines"  used  for  the  destruction  of 
game  of  all  kinds. 

There  is  an  advantage  in  trolling  which  I  have  omitted.  You  can 
lay  the  trolling-rod  on  the  stern  of  the  boat,  and  use  the  fly-rod  for 
casting,  and  thus  "  kill  two  birds  with  one  stone" — troll  with  one  rod, 
and  cast  your  fly  with  the  other.  In  this  way,  I  raised  and  killed  with 
my  light  Trout-rod  many  of  my  best  and  bravest  Brook  Trout. 

I  will  close  this  subject  by  stating,  that  from  the  15th  of  May  to  the 
15th  of  June,  and  from  the  1st  to  the  20th  of  September,  are  the  best 
seasons  for  trolling  on  the  lakes  in  Hamilton  county. 

The  "  black  fly  "  seldom  appears  before  the  1st  of  June — he  is  a 
most  infernal  tormentor  ;  but  one  consolation  to  the  angler  is,  that, 
unlike  the  mosquito,  he  is  a  sound  sleeper,  and  is  never  seen,  heard,  or 
felt  at  night.  Every  man  going  into  the  woods  should  carry  a  gauze 
net,  sufficiently  large  to  cover  the  hat  and  tie  round  the  neck,  to  pro- 
tect the  face,  cars  and  nook  from  the  black  fly 


X, 


-*>■■;'.  cm;   'dK 


TROLLING    FOR    LAKE   TROUT. 


425 


SET-LINES  FOR    LAKK-FieillNO, 


I  HAVE  only  to  add  to  tho  above  complete,  and,  I  think,  perfect  de- 
scription of  lake  trolling,  the  following  account  of  tho  manner  used  in 
Seneca,  and  many  of  the  other  small  lakes,  for  taking  fish  with  the 
set-line. 

It  is  not  a  sporting,  but  it  is  a  very  killing  way  of  taking  fish ;  and 
there  is  some  fun,  after  all  said  and  done,  in  making  a  haul. 

First,  the  set-line  is  baited  with  live  Minnows,  Shiners,  or — best — 
Lake  Herring,  Coregonus  Artedi.  Anchor  one  end  of  the  line  firmly 
near  the  shore,  in  fifteen  feet  water ;  thcnco  run  directly  out  into  the 
lake  from  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  two  miles,  with  a  very  strong  hempen 
cord,  having  short  whip-cord  bait-lines,  with  hooks  armed  on  gimp 
attached  at  every  sixteen  feet ;  the  depth  rarying  from  twenty-five  to 
five  hundred  feet. 

The  same  method  is  much  used  in  Scotland,  and  off  the  coast  of 
Newfoundland,  for  deep-sea  fishing,  and  with  immense  success ;  the 
bait  there  being  the  Herring  proper,  or  Cupolin,  and  the  depth  from 
ten  to  fifty  fathoms. 

In  the  British  Provinces  this  deep-sea  lino  is  known  as  the  "  bul- 
tow." 

Whether  for  lake  or  deep-sea  fishing,  this  is  a  very  dirty,  laborious, 
unscientific,  and  unsporting  mode  of  killing  fish ;  and  there  is  nothing 
to  recommend  it  but  the  immensity  of  pot  to  which  it  ministers. 
28  ■     » 


426 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


ARTIFICIAL  FLIES. 


(Soe  Frontispiece  to  Sapplement.) 


The  superiority  of  "  fly-fishing"  over  every  other  mode  of  angling, 
cannot  be  questioned,  even  by  the  most  ardent  admirer  of  the  float  or 
ground-bait.  The  natural  and  acquired  skill  actually  necessary,  be- 
fore any  man  can  throw  a  "  neat  fly,"  is  only  known  to  those  who  have 
made  this  method  of  angling  their  study  and  amusement.  I  believe 
that  no  man  was  ever  made  a  "  fly-fisher"  from  written  instruction. 

The  rudiments  may  be  acquired  from  books ;  but  a  practical  know- 
ledge of  the  art  can  only  be  acquired  by  patience,  perseverance,  and 
good  temper.  All  works  on  angling  contain  something  on  the  subject ; 
and  if  my  angling  friends  do  not  find  sufficient  instruction  in  my  "  Fish 
and  B^ishing,"  they  must  be  content  to  begin  with  old  Isaak,  and  travel 
down  to  the  last  authority.  * 

It  is  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  present  a  correct  and 
satisfactory  list  of  artificial  Trout  flies.  Every  angler  has  his  own 
favorite  fly,  particularly  if  he  is  in  the  habit  of  fishing  in  one  particular 
pond  or  stream.  The  fly  which  may  be  found  most  killing  on  Stump 
Pond,  may  not  stir  a  fish  in  the  adjoining  water. 

In  1848,  the  "  ibis"  was  all  the  rage  in  Stump  Pond ;  it  was  wholly 
worthless  at  Speonk  and  Mauritchcz.  The  accompanying  plate  con- 
tains flies  of  acknowledged  merit,  and  generally  used  in  the  waters  of 
this  State ;  and  I  feel  assured,  from  my  own  experience,  as  well  as  from 
the  accounts  of  others,  that  no  angler  can  be  at  fault  when  his  book 
is  supplied  with  flies  of  the  character  described  in  the  drawing. 

I  am  indebted  to  Thomas  Finnegan,  of  this  city,  for  much  valuable 
information  in  relation  to  the  exact  colors  used  in  making  the  follow- 
ing described  flies ;  and  indeed  the  greater  number  of  them  have  been 
prepared  by  him,  and  the  coloring  arranged  under  his  supervision. 

By  turning  to  the  plates,  and  number  of  each  fly,  the  reader  will, 


ARTIFICIAL    FLIES. 


427 


from  the  following  description,  see  the  material  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed, its  color,  quality  and  peculiar  character. 

No.  1.  Red  Palmer  Hackle. — Body — Dark  red  colored  mohair, 
ribhed  with  gold  or  silver  twist.  Hackle — Of  the  red  cock,  worked 
with  red  silk.     Hook — No.  5,  6,  or  7. 

No.  2.  Peacock  Palmer  Hackle. — Body — A  full  fibre  of  pea- 
cock herl.  HacHe — Of  a  dusky  red  cock,  worked  with  red  silk. 
Hook— No.  5,  or  6. 

No.  3.  Black  Silver  Palmer  Hackle. — Body— a  fibre  from  a 
black  ostrich  feather,  ribbed  with  silver  twist.  Hackle — Black,  wrap- 
ped over  the  whole  body  with  black  silk  for  fastenings.  Hook — No. 
5,  6,  or  7. 

No.  4.  Yellow  Palmer  Hackle. — The  body  is  made  of  white 
hackle  dyed  yellow.    The  hackh  of  yellow  silk.  Hook — No.  5,  6,  or  7. 

No.  5.  Black  Palmer  Hackle. — The  body  of  black  ostrich's 
herl,  wrapped  with  a  black  cock's  hackle.     Hook — No.  5,  6,  or  7. 

No.  6.  Black  Palmer  Hackle  Ribbed  with  Gold. —  The  body 
of  peacock's  herl,  wrapped  with  a  black  cock's  hackle,  and  ribbed  with 
gold  twist.     Hook — No.  5,  6,  or  7. 

The  flies  from  No.  1  to  6,  inclusive,  which  I  style  "  Palmer  hackles," 
are  known  to  every  "  fly-fisher"  as  most  eff'ective  in  taking  Trout ;  and 
as  thoy  are  intended  to  represent  the  larva)  or  caterpillars  of  flies,  as 
well  as  some  of  the  insects  themselves,  it  is  evident  that  their  siza  and 
color  may  be  varied.  In  angling  vocabulary,  the  terms  "  black  hackle," 
''  red  hackle,"  &c.,  are  almost  invariably  applied  to  all  flies  of  the 
above  character  ;  and  it  may  be,  that  the  above  addition  of  the  term 
"  Palmer,"  may  be  deemed  by  many  good  sportsmen  to  be  an  innova- 
tion upon  old-established  angling  phraseology.  I  know  that  criticism 
should  be  avoided  in  the  use  of  fly-fishing  terms,  which  every  man 
knows  cannot  be  justified  by  any  literary  rule  ;  but  some  angling  terms 
are  so  glaringly  absurd  and  contradictory,  that  it  seems  to  me  actually 
necessary  to  correct  evident  inconsistencies,  when  such  corrections  do 
not  confound  or  mystify  that  piscatory  learning  which  time  has,  as  it 
were,  authorised  as  an  angling  alphabet 


428 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


In  several  works  upon  angling,  the  term  "  haokle"  is  vaiiously  ap- 
plied. We  find  it  synonymous  with  "  palmer,"  which  expresses  an 
artificial  fly  and  a  caterpillar.  We  find  instructions  to  prepare  the 
'*  hackle"  to  make  the  fly ;  and  again,  we  arc  instructed  to  fish  with  a 
"hackle"  or  a  "palmer."  Thus  the  angler  is  confounded.  The 
"  hackle"  is  at  one  moment  a  feather,  and  at  the  next  a  fly— the  fly  of 
one  angler  is  the  hackle  of  another ;  a  hackle  is  nothing  more  than  the 
feather  of  a  bird,  and  a  portion  of  the  material  which  composes  the 
palmer. 

There  is  also  some  apparent  inconsistency  in  the  use  of  the  term 
"  palmer  fly."  The  term  "  palmer,"  as  I  understand  it,  is  only  appli- 
cable when  speaking  of  the  "  palmer  worm  ;"  but  as  this  worm  is  des- 
tined to  become  a  winged  insect,  the  term  "  palmer  fly"  or  "  palmer 
hackle"  is,  according  to  my  notion,  a  more  expressive  term  than 
"  hackle"  or  "  palmer"  alone.  The  palmer  is  the  insect  represented 
—the  hackle  is  the  material  to  form  the  representation.  U 

The  foregoing  few  general  remarks  I  have  deemed  necessary — not 
from  any  desire  to  infringe  upon  old  and  perhaps  well-established 
names,  but  for  the  purpose  of  inducing  others  to  examine  the  subject. 

A  little  research  upon  this  apparently  unimportant  matter  led  mc 
into  a  labyrinth,  from  which  I  have  with  difficulty  escaped  ;  and  I  am 
by  no  means  assured  that  my  views  may  not  increase  the  mystification 
of  our  angling  vocabulary. 

No.  7.  Green  Drake  or  May  Fly. —  Wings — The  mottled 
feather  of  the  mallard  dyed  yellow,  to  stand  rather  erect  and  divided. 
Body — Yellow  mohair,  ribbed  with  peacock's  herl  and  orange  silk. 
Legs — Red  ginger  hackle.  Tail  forked  with  two  or  three  hairs. 
Hook—'Sio.  5,  6,  or  7. 

There  are  other  modes  of  dressing  this  fly,  but  I  prefer  the  above. 

No.  8.  Gray  Drake. —  Wings — The  gray  feather  of  a  mallard,  if 
not  too  dark,  to  stand  erect.  Head — A  morsel  of  peacock's  harl. 
Body — Fine  down  from  a  white  pig,  light  gray  camlet,  or  whitish  gray 
ostrich  herl,  striped  with  deep  maroon  silk.  Tail  forked  with  two  or 
three  gray  hairs.     Legs — A  grizzled  hackle.     Hook — No  5,  6,  or  7. 

The  green  or  gray  drake  is  not,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  an  American 


ARTIFICIAL   FLIES. 


429 


fly ;  still  I  have  found  both  to  be  killing  flies,  from  the  middlo  of  May 
to  the  close  of  June.  Every  angler  who  has  fished  in  England  and 
Ireland  knows  of  thair  surprisingly  attractive  qualiti3S ;  and  that  during 
the  "green  drake  month"  the  Trout  reject  every  kind  of  artificial  and 
natural  bait,  for  the  "green  or  gray  draka  ;"  and  that  at  no  period  of 
the  Trout  season  are  the  fish  so  powerful,  vigorous,  and  fine-flavored 
as  when  this  apparently  luxurious  and  sanative  food  appears  on  the 
streams  and  lakes. 

If  I  am  correct  in  saying  that  it  is  not  an  American  fly,  and  conse- 
quently not  an  imitation  of  any  existing  American  insect,  and  that  it 
is  still  a  killing  artificial  bait  on  American  waters,  then  the  position 
taken  by  some  of  the  best  anglers  will  hold  to  be  true,  that  for  the 
purpose  of  successful  fiy-fishing,  it  is  unnecessary  to  imitate  the  natu- 
ral insect. 

It  is  necessary  to  say  a  word  in  relation  to  the  mode  of  casting  with 
those  flies.  The  green  drake  is  thrown  in  the  usual  way ;  but  the 
action  of  the  gray  drake  being  entirely  difi'orcnt  from  the  green,  the 
same  mode  of  casting  will  not  answer.  Unlike  the  green  drake,  the 
gray  drake  does  not  rest  on  the  water.  His  light  on  the  water  is  mo- 
mentary— "no  sooner  on  than  o^."  Therefore,  the  artificial  gray 
drake  should  be  thrown  right  over  the  Trout,  and  then  lifted  so  as  to 
imitate  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  natural  fly. 

No.  9.  The  Cow-dung  Fly. —  Wings — The  feather  of  a  landrail, 
dressed  a  little  longer  than  the  body,  to  lie  flat  on  the  back.  Body— 
Yellow  wool,  with  a  little  brown  fur,  to  give  the  body  a  dirty  orange 
color ;  the  body  tolerably  full.  Legs — Ginger  hackle,  same  color  as 
the  body.     Hook — No.  6,  7,  or  8. 

This  is  my  favorite  fly.  As  a  standard  and  universal  fly-bait  for 
Trout,  I  think  that  the  Cow-dung  should  stand  "A.  No.  1."  It  is  not 
much  known  to  American  anglers,  and  is  rarely  used  on  American 
waters. 

The  origin  of  the  fly  is  not  aquatic.  It  is  found  on  the  excrement 
of  animals,  particularly  on  that  of  the  cow.  In  windy  weather  it  is 
blown  from  the  land  to  the  water ;  and  no  bait  is  more  greedily  seized 
by  the  Trout.  In  March  and  April  I  use  it  as  a  tail-fly  ;  in  May  and 
June  as  a  dropper  ;  and  in  July  and  August  as  a  hand-fly.     I  regulate 


430 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


the  size  of  the  fly  according  to  the  state  of  the  wind  and  water.  There 
are  few  flies  so  frequently  murdered  in  dressing  as  the  '*  cow-dung ;" 
and  there  is  no  fly  in  the  whole  list  which  requures  more  care  in  shape 
and  color. 

No.  10.  The  Bee-Fly. —  WingS''  Feather,  the  pigeon's  wing, 
dark.  Body — Chenil  of  various  colors,  arranged  in  stripes  in  the 
following  order :  black,  white,  light  yellow,  white,  black,  white.  Legs 
— Light  black  hackle.  ^ 

No.  11.  The  Black  Gnat. —  Wings — Pale  starling  feather,  or 
hen  blackbird.  Body — Black  ostrich  herl,  or  black  worsted.  Hook 
—No.  9,  or  10. 

Thb  fly  is  generally  dressed  short  and  thick,  as  represented  in  the 
plate,  and  is  classed  among  the  "  midge  flies."     In  summer,  when  the 
water  is  clear  and  low,  it  is  a  good  fly.    In  cloudy  weather  it  may  be 
used  through  the  day ;  but  in  bright  days,  it  is  only  useful  in  the  morn-  [ 
ing  and  evening. 

No.  12.  Hare's  Ear. — Body — Fur  from  a  hare's  ear.  Wings — 
Feather  of  a  starling's  wing.  Legs — Ginger  cock's  hackle.  Hook — 
No.  6,  7,  or  8. 

From  the  first  to  the  last  day  of  the  Trout  season,  I  have  found  this 
Hy  to  be  a  good  killer  and  a  favorite  bait.  It  is  not  generally  known 
to  the  American  angler.  Finnegan,  before  referred  to,  can  tic  this 
fly  to  perfection.     I  prefer  to  use  it  as  a  dropper. 

No.  13.  The  (^ock-tail. —  Wings — The  bright  feather  of  a  snipe's 
wing.     Body — Yellow  mohair.     Legs. — Light  black  hackle.      Tail  ' 
forked  with  two  long  hairs.  / 

Let  the  angler  try  this  fly,  and  then  judge  of  its  quality.  I  in- 
clude it  in  the  list,  because  a  friend  has  given  it  a  good  character. 

No.  14.  The  "  Whirling  Dun." — Body — Blue  fur  and  light 
brown  mohair,  wrapped  with  yellow  silk.  Wings — Snipe's  feather, 
or  the  pale  feather  of  a  dun-colored  bird.  Legs — Blue  cock's  hackle. 
The  tail  of  two  hairs  from  a  light-colored  muff. 

This  fly  takes  its  name  from  the  whirling  manner  of  its  flight.     It 


ARTIFICIAL    FLIES. 


481 


can  be  used  with  suoooss,  from  the  middle  of  May  to  the  first  fortnight 
in  July.     With  a  good  breeze,  it  is  a  killing  fly. 

Wo.  15  The  Kinodom  Fly. —  Wings — A  woodcock's  feather. 
Body — Whito  silk,  striped  with  green.  Legs — Red  cock's  hackle. 
Hook. — No.  6,  7,  or  8. 

No.  16.  The  "  White  Gnat." — Wings— A.  small  white  feather. 
Body — White  silk.     Legs — Red  cock's  hackle. 

This  is  a  dulioato  fly,  and  will  kill  in  the  evening  of  the  summer 
months. 

No.  17.  The  "  Blue  Dun." — Wings— From  the  blue  part  under 
the  wing  of  a  male  widgeon ;  to  stand  erect.  Body — Blue  fur  from 
the  water-rat  or  squirrel.  Blue  mohair  may  be  substituted  for  fur,  if 
the  true  shade  of  the  natural  fly  cannot  be  procured.  Legs — A  very 
fine  hackle,  as  near  the  color  of  the  body  as  possible.  Whisks — Two 
blue  hairs. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  procure  the  feather  of  the  exact  color  of 
the  natural  fly,  or  sufficiently  delicate  for  the  wings  of  this  midge-fly. 
It  is  a  good  fly  early  in  the  season. 

No.  18.    The  "Red  Ant." — Wings — Li^;ht  starling's  feather 
Body — Peacock's  herl  made  thick  at  the  tail,  "  id  a  ginger  hackle  for 
legs. 

In  warm,  gloomy  weather,  without  electric  clouds,  ant-flics  arc  kill- 
ing baits  during  the  day ;  but  they  are  nearly  useless  as  a  morning  or 
evening  fly. 

No.  19.  The  "  Gold  Spinner." — Body — Orange  silk,  ribbed  with 
gold  twist.     Wings — Starling's  feather.     Legs — Red  hackle. 
From  June  to  the  middle  of  July,  this  is  a  good  general  fly. 

No.  20.  The  "  White  Moth." — Wings — The  feather  of  a  white 
owl.  Body — White  cotton,  and  a  white  cock's  hackle  wrapped  round 
the  body. 

This  is  a  nijht  fly,  and  should  be  used  in  a  dark,  gloomy  night.  It 
requires  an  experienced  hand  to  fish  successfully  with  this  fly.  The 
moment  the  rise  of  the  fish  is  heard,  the  angler  should  instantly  strike. 


4sa 


AMERICAN    FTSHES. 


Petwcen  0  and  13  o'clock,  ona  night  in  the  month  of  July,  1847,  1 
took  clovon  Imndiiiornc  fi^h  vrith  a  *'  whito  moth."  Care  should  bo 
taken  in  tli«  meloction  of  your  fishing  ground.  A  position  froo  from 
oil  obstruction  in  indixpRnmiblo,  to  insure  cither  pleasure  or  success. 

No,  21.   TiiK   "GovKRNoR." — Wings — A  woodcock's  feather. 
Body — A  pottcock'm  herl,  tied  with  orange  silk. 
Thiti  iM  u  good  fly  in  June  and  July. 

No.  22.  TiiK  "  March  Brown."— THji^s — Mottled  feather  from  a 
partridge'*  tail,  net  upright.  Body— Light  hair  and  red  squirrel's  fur, 
mixed.  Legi — a  grizzled  hackle,  l^ail  Whisks — Two  hairs,  redditsh 
brown. 

ThiH  fly,  like  a  grcot  many  others,  is  known  by  various  names.  I 
believe  that  in  Wales,  it  is  called  the  "  cob-fly."  In  Ireland,  it  is 
called  the  "  cnughlan ;"  and  in  that  country  it  is  highly  prized  as  a 
superior  fly.  Some  good  anglers  make  the  body  of  hare's  ear  and 
yellow  wurHtcd.  I  have  not  found  it  to  be  a  killing  fly  on  Long  Island, 
although  in  xomo  streams  in  Conncicticut,  it  did  good  service  in  the 
month  of  April. 

No.  23,  Tub  Stone-Fly. —  Wings — A  mottled  feather  of  the  hen 
pheasant,  or  the  dark  gray  feothor  of  the  mallard,  inclined  to  red — to 
be  dressed  rather  long.  Body — Dark  brown  fur,  or  the  dark  part  of 
a  hare's  ear,  mixed  with  yellow  camlet  or  mohair.  Legs — A  few  laps 
of  a  grizzliid  cock's  hackle ;  and  in  the  finishing,  two  dark  hairs  are 
frequently  ussd  for  the  antennae,  or  foolers. 

The  angling  history  of  this  fly  is  full  of  interest ;  but  as  I  merely 
propose  to  givo  a  list  of  such  flies  as  experience  justifies  me  in  recom- 
mending, together  with  a  statement  of  the  materials,  colors,  &c  ,  of 
which  thoy  arc  formed,  I  will  in  this  place  simply  refer  my  readers  to 
the  account  given  by  Cotton,  of  this  fly ;  but  I  cannot  refrain  from 
expressing  my  unqualified  dissont  from  the  remarks  in  the  "  North 
Country  Angler,"  in  relation  to  the  natural  history  of  this  fly  ;  and  it 
is  to  mo  a  matter  of  astonishment,  that  Mr.  Daniel,  in  his  great  work 
which  treats  on  fishing,  has  fallen  into  great  error  in  reference  to  the 
stone-fly. 


ARTtFICIAL    VLIC8. 


488 


No.  24.  The  Willow-Flv. —  Wiilg$ — A  dark  grizzled  cook's 
Imckle.     Body — Bluo  squirrors  fur,  mixed  with  yellow  mohair. 

This  fly  appears  very  late  in  the  ecason,  and  is  a  favorite  with  some 
good  anglors. 

I  have  thus  gone  through  the  catalogue  or  list  of  flics  in  the  colored 
plate,  but  I  do  not  desire  to  be  understood  as  intimating  that  this  list 
contains  a  specimen  of  all  the  best  killing  flics. 

Every  angler  has  his  own  peculiar  notion  in  regard  to  the  best  fly ; 
and  the  difiiculty  of  presenting  a  perfect  catalogue,  will  be  very  appa- 
rent, when  it  is  considered  that  there  are  upwards  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  flies  which  compose  the  list  of  various  writers ;  and  as  the 
name  of  the  fly  of  one  writer  bears  a  diff'erent  name  and  description 
from  that  of  another,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  the  name  and  de- 
scription of  some  of  the  flics  in  my  list  may  not  be  in  accordance  with 
the  views  and  opinions  of  many  old  and  experienced  anglers. 

It  is  a  mooted  question  among  the  very  best  "  fly-fishers,"  whether 
an  exact  representation  of  the  living  insect,  is  necessary  to  insure  suc- 
cess in  angling  with  the  fly.  The  Scotch  flies  are  not  imitations  of 
living  insects ;  and  the  best  anglers  in  that  country  maintain  the 
opinion  that  it  is  absolutely  useless  and  unnecessary  to  imitate  any  in- 
sect, either  winged  or  otherwise  ;  and  1  find  that  Professor  Wilson  ad- 
vocates the  inutility  of  such  imitations. 

Professor  Rennie  says  that  "  the  aim  of  the  angler  ought  to  be,  to 
have  his  artificial  fly  calculated,  by  its  form  and  colors,  to  attract  the 
notice  of  the  fish  ;  in  which  case  he  has  a  much  greater  chance  of  suc- 
cess, than  by  making  the  greatest  efforts  to  imitate  any  particular  spe- 
cies of  fly." 

The  opinion  of  such  authorities  tends  to  shake  old  settled  notions ; 
and  although  I  invariably  endeavor,  when  dressing  a  fly,  to  imitate  the 
living  insect,  still  I  have  seen  nondescript  flies  beat  all  the  palmer 
hackles,  and  the  most  life-like  flies  that  ever  graced  a  casting-line. 

I  shall  leave  the  subject  where  I  found  it — in  doubt — trusting  that 
some  more  experienced  hand,  and  lover  of  the  art,  will,  ere  long,  en- 
lighten the  angling  community,  not  only  upon  this  branch  of  the  sub- 
ject, but  upon  the  "fly"  in  general.  Every  distinct  insect  has  a 
history  full  of  interest  and  instruction ;  and  although  some  valuable 


484 


AMERICAN    riSIIES. 


treatises  have  boon  published,  which  depict  the  inNccts  and  their  types 
in  their  natural  colors,  still  a  ootupilation  of  all  that  is  instructive,  with 
such  additional  information  as  research  and  oxporionoo  may  prouuru, 
woald  make  a  volume  of  deep  interest  to  the  naturalist  and  the  angler. 


DESCRIPTION  OP  SALMON  AND  LAKE  TROUT  FLIES. 
Plata  to  (Hm  page  334—  body  of  work. 

The  Salmon  Flies  three  in  number.  Upper  row,  from  left  to 
right. 

Largest  Fly,  No.  1. — Blue  worsted  head;  bluck  hackle  body, 
with  silver  thread ;  upper  wings,  speckled  turkey ;  broad  wing,  bright 
golden  pheasant ;  green  peacock  herls,  blue>jay  and  rod  hackle  logs  ; 
bird  of  paradise  tail ;  scarlet-dyod  antennae. 

Middle  Flt. — Red  worsted  head ;  ruffed  grouse  hackle  and  blue- 
geai  wings;  green  peacock  herl;  red  hackle  body;  ruffed  grouse 
hackle  legs ;  orange  silk  tuft ;  bird  of  paradise  tail ;  blue  macaw  an- 
tennae. 

Third  Fly. — Green  peacock  harl  head ;  speckled  turkey  and  blue 
geai  wings,  with  copper  peacock's  herl ;  red  hackle  legs  ;  blue  floss- 
silk  body ;  bird  of  paradise  tail.  '  ' 


DESCRIPTION  OP  LAKE  TROUT  PLIES. 

\ 

Plate  to  fiice  page  234— body  of  work. 

Left-hand  Fly,  Lower  Row,  No.  2. — Black  floss  silk  head; 
brown  peacock's  wing ;  red  hackle  legs ;  copper  peacock's  herl  body ; 
orange  worsted  tuft. 


ARTiriCIAL    rtlES. 


48fi 


llu;iiT-ii  AND. — Blu!  worstod  head;  ruffod  grouso  upper  wingn; 
gold  n  phoasaut  un'l  >r  winga ;  brown  couk^s  hucklo  I'gn;  pink  Milk 
body,  with  goM  twist;  bird  of  parudiMU  tail ;  gruou  p'jaoouk*8  horl  an- 
tonii.' 


DESCRIPTION  OF  TROUT  FLIES. 
To  fiice  |M|a  U3— body  of  work. 

Upper  Row,  first  Fly  to  left-hand. — Black  cock's  backlu, 
dark  blue  worsted  body. 

Second. — Scarlet  ibis  wings ;  scarlet  silk  body ;  silver  twist. 

Third. — Gioen  peacock's  herl  wings  ;  ruffed  grouse  haoklc  legs; 
orange  silk  body ;  green  peacock  borl  tuft. 

Fourth — Cock  a  bondbu  hackle  ;  rod  silk  body  ;  silver  thread. 

Fifth. — Cock  a  bondhu  hackle  ;  green  worsted  body. 

Sixth. — White  miller ;  black  silk  head;  white  owl  wings;  white 
ostrich  legs ;  white  chenil  body. 

Second  Row,  first  to  the   left.  —Bee. — Gray  pigeon  wings  ; 
black  and  yellow  silk  body. 

Second. — Green  drake  ;    Mallard's  speckled  wing  ;   light  brown 
hackle  legs ;  pale  brown  mohair  body ;  tail,  three  black  horse-hairs. 

Third. — Black  midge  ;  gray  goose  wings;  black  chenil  body. 

Third  Row,  first  to  the  left. — Brown  turkey's  wing  ;  cock  a 
bondhu  hackle  legs;  red  worsted  body  ;  speckled  mallard  tail. 

Second. — Snipe's  wing;  gray  mouse  body;  ruffed  grouse  hackle 
legs  ;  speckled  mallard  tail. 

Fourth  Row,  first  to  the  left. — Yellow  dyed  hackle  wings 
yoUow  worsted  body  ;  silver  twist.  : 

Second. — Furnace  hackles ;  green  worsted  body. 


436 


AiMERICAN    FISHES. 


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A     TREATISE 


OH 


F     L     Y  -  F     I     S     II     I     N     C>  . 

BY      "DINKS," 

0Kiani4Li.v  ririmiiiMKit  rtm 

'"       J'rank  forester's  ^i«^  anb  Jis^ing; 

CONTAINING  COMPLETB  AND  KLAKOIIATB  I^IKKCTIOXM  VWl  BVKKV  THING 
CONNECTBD   WITH  THK   AIIT   AKI>  W.'IKXC'K  (If 

IP  L  Y  -  F- I  B  IX  I  N  <  f , 


TUB  MATEKIAL8,   MODE  OP  TVIMO,  COI/OBH,  HKANONM,   AN1>  irXKN  Of  AU,  TUB 

HOST  KILUNO  VARIKTIRD  OP  ABTIPK.'MI.  fl.lKM;    THK   t'MK  OP  THE 

ROD.  THR   VARIOU8  METHODS  (iP  CAMTINd,  TIIK  HCAT  POHM<t 

OP  TACKLR,  THP.  TRUK  MODK  OP  KIHINO,  HOOKINO, 

PLAYING,   AND  KII,I.INU  VoL'K  PIMII,   KtO. 


\      J 


'/ 


SUPPLEMENTARY   TREATISE 


ON 


^ 


FLY-FISHING. 


Fly-fishing  may  well  be  considered  the  most  beautiful  of  all  rural 
sports.  For,  in  addition  to  the  great  nicety  required  to  become  pro- 
ficient in  the  art,  it  is  also  absolutely  requisite,  for  its  successful  attain- 
ment, to  study  much  and  long — how  to  adapt  and  blend  the  various 
materials  used  in  the  construction  of  a  fly ;  how  to  construct  the  fly 
on  certain  defined  rules;  and,  lastly,  how  to  select  your  flics,  thus 
carefully  and  correctly  constructed,  in  accordance  with  the  state  of  the 
sky,  the  color  of  the  water,  and  the  peculiar  habits  of  the  fish  in  dif- 
ferent rivers.  The  two  first  are  tolerably  easy  to  acquire ;  the  last  by 
far  the  most  diflScult  of  all.  A  lifetime  devoted  to  it  would  barely 
render  a  man  decently  knowing,  for  scarcely  do  two  rivers  present  the 
same  appearance,  two  skies  the  same  shadows,  or  the  fish  of  two  rivers 
the  same  tastes,  and  consequently  no  particular  rules  can  be  laid  down 
or  plan  devised  which  shall  everywhere  be  infallible. 

In  this  last  section,  then,  of  the  first  part,  it  is  not  to  be  expected 
that  more  than  a  general  enumeration,  of  errors  to  be  avoided,  plans 
and  practices  found  useful,  can  be  given.  Each  angler  must  study  for 
himself  the  peculiar  habits  of  the  fish  in  the  various  rivers  in  his  sec- 
tion of  the  country,  where  he  may  hope  to  be  after  a  while  a  respect- 
able angler ;  while,  perhaps,  on  an  expedition  to  a  distant  river,  he 
«0 


442 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


would  in  all  probability  be  beaten  by  a  much  inferior  fisherman. 
But  so  it  is,  and  so  in  all  probability  it  ever  will  be ;  and  that  man 
will  be  the  bust  angler  who  is  the  readiest  at  taking  hints  from  those 
living  on  the  waters  he  wants  to  whip. 

There  is,  I  regret  to  say,  amongst  fishermen  an  unaccountable  dis- 
like to  impart  knowledge  to  a  brother  disciple,  and  with  many  an 
almost  insuperable  objection  even  to  show  their  cast  of  flies,  still  less 
the  favorite  nooks  for  the  best  fish ;  the  last  one  can  understand  and 
think  little  about,  for  if  we  did  want  to  know,  we  could  either  watch 
unknown  and  unseen  for  a  day,  or  we  could,  by  carefully  fishing  every 
part  of  the  river  for  one  day,  select  the  best  for  another ;  but  for  flies 
we  should  be  at  a  loss.  Luckily  all  this  class  of  men  are  approachable 
in  an  indirect  way ;  a  quiet  chat  by  the  river  side,  after  a  casual  meeting 
(regularly  planned  by  you),  about  the  state  of  the  water,  weather,  bad- 
ness of  gut  now-a-days  (a  very  catching  topic  by  the  way),  producing 
your  point  by  way  of  a  clincher :  "  'Tis  the  best  that  I  can  get,"  say 
you ;  "  how  do  you  manage — for  I  find  the  greatest  diflSculty  now  in 
getting  it  anywise  decent ;  yours  seems  very  strong  and  good,  pray 
where  do  you  obtain  it?"  will  genernlly  produce  to  your  eyes  the 
casting  line.  A  casual  examination  of  it,  a  particular  one  of  the  flies, 
done  quickly,  interspersed  with  praise  on  their  construction,  etc.,  will 
probably  gain  a  trifle  more  knowledge  for  you ;  a  present  of  a  killing 
fly  or  two  on  a  strange  water  Avill  gain  you  as  many  useless  ones.  But 
a  sight  of  the  stock — this  will  render  you  au  fait  to  the  style  of  fly  in 
use ,  you  must  then  add  up  all  your  gains,  and  manufacture  accord- 
ingly. Invariably  have  I  noticed  that  the  most  successful  local  fisher- 
men are  the  most  difficult  to  draw ;  and  I  always  held,  and  do  hold, 
that  any  means  are  fair  to  circumvent  them.  v  i 

We  will  now  proceed  to  enumerate  the  various  articles  requisite  for 
fly  trying.  On  the  following  page  you  will  see  the  plan  of  a  most  con- 
venient and  portable  box  to  contain  all  these  articles  in  store,  and  also 
a  portable  case  for  short  items.  Of  floss  silks — such  as  ladies  embroider 
ottomans  and  such-like  things  with — you  require  every  shade  almost ; 
of  Berlin  wools,  the  same ;  of  pig's-wool,  or  mohair,  various  colors 
and  tints;  of  furs,  you  require  Musk-Rat,  Fi'^'id-A' "tuse,  Black  Squir- 
rel, Mink,  Marten,  young  Fox-cub,  dittb  Coon,  Green  Monkey,  Por- 
cupine-belly, Red  Squirrel,  the  ear  of  the  English  Hare,  and  ditto 
Polecat.  . 


si 


FLY-FISHING. 


448 


1* 


Inside  must  be 


i 


1 

1 

__ 

■  -r 

PLAN    OP   FISHING-CASE. 

This  may  be  made  of  any  wood,  according  to  fancy, 
red  cedar,  to  keep  moths  away. 

a  0,  height,  fifteen  inches ;  c  d,  width,  fifteen  inches ;  /  /,  depth, 
eleven  inches;  i  i,  are  drawers  of  equal  size;  Jj,  arc  two  drfiwers  half 
larger  than  ii\  k  k,  are  two  pigeon-holes ;  g  and  h  are  folding-doors 
8huttii>g  in  centre,  bolted  top  and  bottom  on  one  side,  locked  on  the  other. 

The  drawers  i  i  have  all  shallow  trays  fitting 
inside  them ;  two  in  each  are  sufficient.  The  top 
trays  of  the  top  drawers  arc  divided  into  three 
compartments  each;  the  one  by  two  longitu- 
dinal strips  of  wood,  the  other  by  two  transverso 
ones,  thus.  The  transverse  ones  should  have 
lids  in.  There  you  keep  your  hooks  and  tinsel, 
a  ft  /  e  is  a  movable  top  fastened  with 
hinges  at  n  n,  to  be  turned  over  on  to  the  doors 
.7  and  h,  lined  inside  with  parchment.  On  this 
lid  and  the  other  half  of  the  top  of  the  box  you 
place  your  feathers,  &c.,  to  dress  your  flics  on. 
The  lower  figure  represents  the  top  opened  out ; 
they  do  not  quite  touch  one  another  when  shut 
up,  as  a  slight  rim  runs  all  around  both  boards  to 
raise  them.  In  this  cavity  you  can  always  keep 
your  mixed  wings,  or  pieces  of  lead  to  keep  the 
feathers  from  blowing  away.  At  m  or  m,  you  fix 
your  movable  vice,  taking  it  off  when  you  shut 


444 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


up ;  f7  «7  is  where  you  lock  it  up.     Chenille  of  various  suhstance  and 
colors  is  continually  needed. 

The  following  is  a  representation  of  a  very  convenient  and  portable 
form  of  book  to  hold  an  assortment  of  feathers,  «fec.,  for  a  short  fishing 
tour.  The  feathers  must  be  tied  up  in  bunches,  each  sort  by  itself,  and 
the  quill  end  inserted  into  a  compartment.  The  most  convenient  size 
is  eight  and  a  half  inches  long  by  five  and  a  half  wide,  when  folded  up ; 
when  opened,  however,  it  is  twenty-eight  inches  long  by  five  and  a 
half  wide,  not  including  the  flaps.  This  is  folded  upj  however,  one 
turn  over  the  other.  It  is  best  made  of  parchment,  a  h  represent 
transverse  slips  of  same  material.  These  are  stitched  through  the 
back  at  regular  distances,  to  hold  the  feathers,  and  at  the  ends,  c,  is 


*M^-^ 


W  f()  w^ 


3t;-^Aial 


FLY-FISniNO. 


445 


where  each  fold  is.  d  d  d,  arc  the  ilaps  to  wrap  over  all  when 
folded  upon  e,  for  convenience  of  holding  hooks,  tinsel,  silk,  etc.  It 
is  best  to  have  a  couple  of  pockets,  one  over  the  other,  covering  e. 
The  mouth  of  one  is  represented  at  f.  You  can  also,  if  requisite,  have 
a  pocket  to  each  flap  at  the  back  of  the  four  flaps,  the  opening  being 
downward,  as  represented  in  the  additional  cut,  which  shows  the  first 
or  lowest  flap  partly  turned  up  on  the  second.  In  this  book  it  is  best 
to  put  the  largest  feathers  in  the  bottom  row  of  slits,  and  smaller 
ones  in  the  upper  row,  as  it  does  not  matter  if  the  larger  ones  hide  the 
smaller  ones.  In  the  second  row  I  have  shown  how  the  feathers  arc 
stowed  away. 

The  lines  c  are  merely  to  mark  the  turns  over,  as  the  above  is  only 
of  one  sheet  of  parchment,  save  the  cross  pieces  and  pockets. 

Of  feathers  you  require  an  infinite  variety.  Wild  Turkey  tail  and 
tail  coverts,  also  the  neck  feathers,  may  be  useful.  The  tail  of  the 
American  RufFcd  Grouse ;  the  neck  and  tail  of  the  English  Grouse; 
the  yellowish-tinged  neck  feathers  of  the  Ptarmegan ;  the  tail  of  cock 
and  hen  Phensant,  neck  of  both  and  wing  coverts  of  hen ;  of  the  duck 
tribe  you  require  the  black,  white,  brown  and  white-barred  feathers 
from  under  the  wing  of  the  Gray,  Wood,  Canvas-back,  Mallard,  Teal, 
and  Widgeon ;  of  the  Peacock,  the  neck  and  tail ;  the  neck  feath- 
ers of  various  colored  cocks  (commonly  called  hackles),  black,  red, 
yellow,  gray,  marled,  and  white,  for  dyeing  blue,  green,  plum,  claret, 
brown,  &c. ;  also  Woodcock,  starling,  and  Landrail  wings.  Wren's 
tail,  Guinea-Fowl  tail,  tail  coverts  and  neck  feathers.  Macaw  feathers 
of  various  colors,  tail  of  the  Macaw,  blue  and  yellow  under,  blue  and 
red  under  side;  Cock  of  the  Hock's  neck;  Golden  Pheasant-neck 
toppins  and  tail ;  Great  African  Bustard  tail,  tail  coverts  and  neck ; 
Golden  Plover  rump  coverts ;  Argus  Pheasant  neck  and  tail  feath- 
ers ;  English  Jay  wings ;  Parrot  tails  of  every  color,  neck  ditto ; 
also  topknots  of  American  Kingfisher,  skin  of  English  one ;  tail  and 
wing  feathers  of  Capercailzie,  those  deeply  and  closely  barred  with 
white ;  Guinca-Fowl  feathers  dyed  green,  orange,  and  claret  colors ; 
Ostrich  feathers,  the  thickest  and  best,  of  various  colors ;  tame  Turkey 
tails  of  various  tints ;  Scarlet  Ibis ;  three  or  four  barred  feathers 
from  the  quail's  tail ;  tail  of  Long-tailed  Thrush,  &c. 

These  arc  all  that  at  present  occur  to  my  mind.  They  are  tolerably 
numerous  certainly,  but  all  extremely  useful ;  many  of  them  every  day. 


440 


AMERICAN    FIBIIE8. 


Doubtlcfw  many  more  might  bo  added  from  the  birds  of  America,  but 
thoNO  are  sufllcicnt  for  general  purposes. 

HOOKS. 

llic  liook  requires  particular  attention.  It  is  bad  enough  to  make  a 
good  fly  on  u  bod  hook,  but  to  lose  a  good  fish  in  consequence,  is  far 
wurHe.  The  best  hooks  undoubtedly  are  O'Shaughnessey's  Limerick, 
when  to  bo  had.  There  are  also  the  Kendal  or  Kirby  Sneck,  and 
Carlisle  hooks,  of  some  celebrity ;  also  Kelly's  Dublin ;  and  Bartlett's, 
t>{  Hcdditch. 


D 


:^ 


KKMPAL  OK  »niU}%  BX.ID. 


HOLIX>W  I'OTNT  LIMKRICE 

OK  kellt'b  hook. 


O  SnAVOIIHIgSKT. 


0'Shaiighnc««ey  n«cd  to  make  his  hooks  as  here  described :  "  They 
arc  ut  first  small  straight  bars  of  the  best  iron,  of  the  requisite  length, 
with  a  rudo  kind  of  head  at  one  end.  They  are  first  barbed,  sharp- 
ened and  roimdcd  with  a  file,  and  then  bent  with  circular  pincers  to 
the  proper  degree  of  curvature ;  they  are  next  steeled  by  the  applica- 
tion of  firo  and  charcoal ;  and  then,  after  a  little  final  polishing,  arc 
placed  on  a  smoothing  iron  heated  to  580  degrees  of  Fahrenheit,  and 
arc,  lastly,  immersed  in  grease  to  preserve  them  from  rust."  (See 
Anffler  in  Ireland.) 

Of  these  you  require  every  size,  from  the  largest  to  the  least.  Bartlett 
of  Ucdditch  manufactures  the  best  now-a-days,  as  regards  shape  and 
temper,  having  more  of  the  form  of  the  real  Limerick — now  I  believe 
no  more,  the  original  makers  of  them  being  dead.  What  were  and  are 
usually  called  Limerick  hooks  are  very  far  from  them  in  appearance. 


3 


XOtfJID  HK9U  CARLSLK 


KIIIBT  BEND  CAUU>LK. 


BABTLETT8. 


Of  gut  you  require  the  very  strongest  for  Salmon,  and  very  fine  for 


FLY-FI8HINO. 


44 


Trout,  that  is,  whore  you  chooso  to  use  a  single-handed  '  «nd  sinaM 
flies.  When,  however,  you  use  Salmon-flies  for  them,  you  luust  ii*c 
Salmon  gut  and  rod. 

Of  tying-silks,  you  require  yellow,  red  and  orang  ,  of  three  or  four 
diff'ercnt  substances ;  for  fine,  the  ravellings  of  a  lady's  dress  will  do ; 
for  the  other  sizes,  you  can  purchase  small  reels  of  required  colors  of 
China  silk. 

Of  tinsel,  you  require  flat  gold  and  flat  silver  of  various  sizes,  atul 
ulso  gold  and  silver  twist.  Some  few  flies  require  a  crimped  kind  of 
flat,  broad  gold  and  silver. 

You  now  require  a  vice  to  screw  on  to  your  stand,  to  hold  your  hook 
flrm  while  you  dress  your  fly,  and  a  pair  of  tweezers  to  hold  on  to  the 
end  of  fi  hackle,  thread,  or  silk,  etc.,  while  yon  use  your  hand  for  any 
thing  else;  small  flat  pieces  of  lead,  to  prevent  your  feathers  being 
blown  away ;  a  pin  or  two ;  cobblers'  wax,  and  a  bottle  of  copal  varnish, 
or  liquid  wax  still  better. 


DIAGRAM   OF  TBI  VICB   ItbqUlKKD 

Here  is  the  pattern  of  a  portable  vice :  a  is  the  frame  which  is  se- 
cured on  to  the  tabic  by  e  ;  b  is  a  movaoie  vice  inserted  into  frame 
through  square  holes  at  c  and  d.  The  upright  pillar  b  is  squared  so  as 
to  fit  into  0  and  d  ;  f  o  is  a  screw  running  through  the  upper  part  so 
as  to  tighten  the  vice,  the  back  side  of  which  has  a  hinge  unseen  at  i. 
H  is  the  top  of  the  vice  showing  the  position  in  which  the  fly  is  held. 


TO   DRESS   A   FLT. 

"  The  art  of  fly-trying  requires  the  rarest  combination  of  manual  skill, 
judgment  and  fancy,  and  the  happiness  of  invention  with  which  these 
gorgeous  deceits  are  often  devised,  and  the  neatness  with  which  they 


443 


AMERICAN    riSHEB. 


are  executed  have  over  greatly  won  my  admiration."     So  writes  tbo 
"  Angler  in  Ireland." 

And  hear  again  what  the  poet  Oay  has  to  say  on  the  subject: 

"  To  frame  the  little  animal,  provide 
All  the  gay  hues  that  wait  on  female  prido ; 
Lot  nature  guide  thee — sometimes  golden  wire 
The  ahiuhig  bellies  of  the  fly  require ; 
The  peacock's  plume  thy  tackle  must  not  fail, 
Nor  the  dear  purchase  of  the  sable's  tail.  , 

Each  gaudy  bird  some  slender  tribute  brings, 
And  lends  the  glowing  insect  proper  wings. 
Silks  of  all  colors  must  their  aid  impart ;  <• 

And  every  tar  promote  tlio  Hshcr's  ar^ ; 
So  tiio  gay  lady  with  oxtonsivo  care 
Borrows  tho  prido  of  lond,  of  sen,  of  air ;  * 

Furs,  pearls,  and  plumes  the  glittering  thing  d{8pla}'.<<, 
Dazzles  our  eyes,  and  easy  hearts  betrays." 

EXPLANATION    OF   FIGURES    ON    OPPOSITE    PAGE. 

No.  1 .  Hook  with  waxed  string,  a,  taking  four  turns  round  it. 

No.  2.  Gut,  6,  fastened  on. 

No.  3.  Hackle,  c,  fastened  on  with  single  turn  round. 

No.  4.  Tinsel,  rf,  fastened  on,  with  another  single  turn  round. 

No.  5.  With  silk,  ef,  showing  position  preparatory  to  wrapping  it 
on;  e  being  wound  over/;  kept  in  its  place  by  a  finger. 

No.  6.  With  silk  body  wound  on,  and  fastened  at  <;  by  single  turn 
of  waxed  end ;  o,  end  of  silk  being  cut  off  close. 

No.  7.  With  d,  tinsel  wrapped  on,  and  confined  at  ff  by  single  turn 
of  0. 

No.  8.  With  hackle  c  wrapped  on,  fastened  at  ff  by  triple  turn  of 
waxed  end  a,  looped;  h  represents  the  triple  row  of  hackle  close 
together  for  shoulders,  and  i  the  legs. 

No.  9.  With/,  the  wings  in  position,  secured  by  triple  turn  of  a;  k  " 
represents  the  stumps  of  wing  not  cut  oft'. 

No.  10.  Represents  the  fly  all  finished. 

No.  1 1 .  A  single  loop.  \ 

No.  12.  The  triple  invisible :  one  end,  a,  being  passed  through  loops 
bed,  each  being  afterward  tigblLnel. 

No.  13.  A  pair  of  tweezers.  ' 

No.  14.  Prepared  hackle  clipped  at  sides,  at  l. 


rLV-risiiiNu. 


440 


450 


AMERICAN   FISHKS. 


No.  14. 


No.  13. 


/ 


x 


AYo  will  now,  as  well  as  we  can,  describe  how  to  dress  these  different 
styles  of  flies,  commencing  with  the  easiest;  and  we  would  rocoininend 
the  novice  to  practice  at  No.  1  until  he  can  produce  8omcthiti^  pre- 
sentable ;  for,  for  some  time  it  will  be  any  thing  else,  despite  ]m  buHt  en- 
deavors to  master  the  difficulty.  Select  a  tolerable-sized  hook,  No.  .') 
for  instance ;  fix  it  firmly  point  downward  in  the  vice,  which  screw 
tight  to  the  edge  of  a  table  placed  in  front  of  the  window  or  under  a 
skylight.  Wax  your  silk  well.  To  do  this  properly,  you  inu»t  Mtick 
a  pin  in  your  trowsers  knee ;  take  two  or  three  turns  of  the  silk  round 
the  head  and  point  alternately  to  prevent  its  slipping;  hold  ii  MUWiU 
round  bit  of  wax,  not  much  bigger  than  a  pea,  between  finger  and 
thumb;  well  wax  every  part,  beginning  at  the  bottom,  taking  care  not 
to  put  your  fingers  on  the  silk,  else  it  is  apt  to  break.  Take  three  or 
four  turns  along  the  bare  hook  some  distance  apart,  to  within  a  trifle 
of  the  head ;  select  your  gut ;  bite  the  thick  end  a  little  up  an<l  down 
as  far  as  the  hook  will  cover;  take  eight  or  ten  tight  turns  of  the  HJJk 
close  together  round  both,  the  gut  being  on  the  under  side  of  the  hr»ok, 
and  then  whip  on  loosely  to  a  point  opposite  the  barb.  Now  with  one 
turn  round  all  make  fast  a  cock's  hackle,  we  will  suppose.  TIuh  hiicklo 
requires  preparing.  It  is  done  thus :  at  the  quill  end  the  flnft'  or  woolly 
matter  must  be  stripped  oft';  at  the  other  end  with  a  fine-pointed  mcIh- 
sors  clip  away  close  to  the  end  two  or  three  fibres  on  each  side  of  the 
quill ;  this  prevents  the  end  tied  on  being  too  thick  and  clumsy.  Now, 
to  return  to  the  fly ;  next  with  another  turn  fasten  one  end  of  tinsel 


i 


FLY-FISHING. 


451 


or  twist,  as  the  case  may  be ;  next  take  a  turn  round  an  end  of  wool 
or  peacock's  tail  or  ostrich,  and  with  a  couple  of  turns  round  the  shank 
[)aHH  the  waxed  silk  to  the  head.  If  the  body  be  of  floss  silk,  with  the 
finjj;er  of  one  hand  press  one  end  of  the  silk  on  the  shank,  twisting  the 
other  over  the  shank  and  over  the  silk  end  also ;  take  a  second  turn 
round,  draw  tight,  and  wrap  evenly  to  the  head,  secure  with  tweezers 
for  the  present.  When  a  wool,  mohair  or  fur  body  is  to  come  on,  you 
twist  a  portion  of  them  round  the  waxed  thread  and  work  it  evenly  up 
to  the  liead ;  pull  off  the  superfluous  dubbing ;  make  fast ;  twist  on  the 
tinsel  slantingly  from  heel  to  head  at  regular  distances ;  three  to  four 
turns  round  generally  suffice;  fasten  with  a  turn  of  the  silk;  ifbxt 
pass  the  hackle  alongside  of  the  tinsel,  close  to  it  all  the  way,  and  the 
game  way.  If  across  (some  flies  are  tied  so),  the  teeth  of  fish  cut 
through  the  fibre,  and  the  fly  does  not  look  so  well ;  if  close  alongside, 
the  teeth  are  not  so  liable  to  cut  the  hackle,  and  take  two  or  three 
turns  with  it  round  the  upper  end  of  the  shank  close  together  to  form 
the  legs  and  shoulders.  Now  take  a  couple  of  turns  of  the  waxed  silk, 
to  fasten  all  on  tightly ;  passing  the  end  of  the  silk  through  the  last 
turn,  pull  it  tight;  this  forms  a  knot  and  secures  it.  Select  your 
fibres  of  feathers  for  wings,  observing  not  to  make  them  too  heavy  or 
too  long ;  one  half  way  between  the  point  of  the  hook  and  the  extreme 
end  of  the  bend  is  long  enough.  Holding  on  to  the  root  end  of  the 
wing,  pass  it  between  your  lips  to  moisten  it ;  fit  to  the  proper  length 
over  the  hook,  holding  it  there  with  one  hand,  while  with  the  other 
you  take  two  or  three  turns  of  the  silk  tightly  over  the  wing  as  close 
as  possible  to  the  legs.  Draw  back  {i.e.  toward  the  head)  the  wing; 
pass  the  silk  twice  close  behind  the  wing,  between  it  and  the  eye  and 
shoulder  hackle,  to  give  it  a  correct  set ;  then  pass  forward ;  cut  off 
the  stump  of  the  wing  as  close  as  possible ;  finish  off  with  four  or  five 
turns  of  the  waxed  silk  over  the  cut  off  part.  Make  a  couple  of  knots 
as  above  described,  or  invisible  knot ;  then  br^ak  off  the  silk,  and  you 
have  your  fly  all  complete. 

To  render  the  above  more  plain,  I  have  made  a  set  of  drawings  of 
each  process,  accompanied  with  letters  and  notes,  so  that  with  a  little 
attention  a  very  correct  idea  may  be  formed  how  a  fly  should  be  tied. 
When  ft  tail  is  used,  it  must  be  set  on  before  the  tinsel  or  hackle,  with 
a  C')Uple  of  turns  of  waxed  silk,  and  cut  off  quite  close. 


462 


AMERICAN   FIoHES. 


EXAMPLE   I. 


No.1 


No.  2. 


Here  No.  1  represents  the  body  wound  on,  and  the  tinsel  (if  any), 
with  the  hackle  b  and  buzzy  wings,  o,  fastened  and  ready  to  wrap  on. 

No.  2.  As  above,  with  b  wrapped  on  up  to  e,  and  there  tied ;  after 
which  c  is  wrapped  on  alongside  of  b,  after  b  reaches  it,  fastened  on 
also  at  e,  by  waxed  end,  a,  tied  otF  with  invisible  knots. 

EXAMPLE   II. 

No.  1. 


V, 


No   2. 


r 


FLY>FWUINU. 


463 


Here  are  represented  two  ways  of  making  a  palmer. 

No  1  represents  the  body  fSastened  on  m  above  (plate  1,  No.  1);  a 
being  the  waxed  end,  b  the  hackle,  to  be  wound  on,  finishing  o£f  at  c. 
N.  B. — Palmers  are  made  with  very  long,  thick  hackles. 

No.  2  represents  another  sort  of  palmer;  two  hooks  are  fastened 
back  to  back,  as  shown  in  example,  u  represents  a  Peacock's  harl,  or 
other  substance,  for  the  body  to  be  finiMlied  off  at  f,  (a  No.  2).  c  and 
D  are  two  hackles  set  on  the  reverse  way,  i.  e.,  quill  end  tied  on  first. 
B  is  wound  along  past  hackle  d,  &8tcncd  down  at  f.  Ilackle  c  is 
wound  a  ig  pretty  closely,  waxed  end  a  being  alongside,  or  a  may  be 
carried  on  to  (/  with  the  harl  and  there  left.  Ilackle  c  is  fastened 
down  at  ff  and  cut  ofi"  close,  as  also  waxed  end  a.  Hackle  n  then  is 
wound  on  to  f,  where  it  is  tied  down  by  waxed  end  (a  No.  2),  ends  all 
Cut  oif  close. 


EXAMPLE  III. 


Example  III.  represents  a  real  salmon-fly ;  a  b  horns ;  c  head  of 
ostrich ;  d  tail ;  e  gold  tag  behind  the  tail.  This  phte  gives  nearly 
the  representation  of  a  real  Limerick  (O'Bhaughncssey)  hook. 

The  above  is  pretty  nearly  a  general  fly,  omitting  only  the  head, 
which  consists  generally  of  a  trail  of  ostrich  turned  round  the  head 
after  the  wings  are  clipped  close,  and  two  horns  put  on  either  outside 
or  just  under — the  head  lying  on  top  of  the  wings.  Tliere  is  what  is 
called  a  buzzy  fly  and  a  palmer,  represented  in  examples  I.  and  II. 

Example  III.  is  a  perfect  salmon-fly,  and  in  these  also  directions  are 
given. 


464 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


We  trust  that  these  directions  will  enable  any  one  to  manufacture 
for  himself,  after  patience,  practice,  and  perseverance.  But  we  would 
particularly  advise  any  one  so  beginning  to  take  a  few  lessons  from  a 
practised  hand,  where  he  will  see  all  the  niinnte  dodges  wo  cannot  de- 
scribe. 

Finnegan  of  New  York  would  doubtless  give  lessons  in  this  beauti- 
ful art,  and,  to  judge  by  his  flies,  no  one  is  more  competent  to  do  so. 
They  have  that  peculiarity  about  them  that  bespeaks  them  Irish,  and 
are  most  neatly  manufactured,  though  without  any  appearance  of  stiff- 
ness or  eye-serving  about  them. 

Having  described  the  method  as  practised  by  ourselves,  we  will  for 
the  present  pass  over  the  different  sort  of  flies  ih  vogue,  and  show  how 
your  gut  casting-line  is  to  be  made.  Select  for  salmon  eight  or  ten  of 
the  very  strongest  gut  you  can  pick  out,  prove  each  link  separately — 
one  end  between  your  teeth,  the  other  round  a  finger ;  pull  till  it 
breaks.  Try  it  again,  and  if  it  resist  considerably  put  it  into  a  basin 
of  water.  Serve  the  rest  in  the  same  way,  then  take  out  two  pieces 
of  about  equal  thickness;  place  the  thick  end  of  one  to  the  thin  of  the 
other,  let  them  once  lap  an  inch  or  two ;  holding  them  so,  take  the 
short  end  of  one,  pass  it  over  the  other  long  end ;  bring  it  underneath, 
and,  passing  it  twice  through,  the  loop  is  formed.  The  same  with  the 
other  short  end ;  pull  the  knots  tight  and  draw  the  two  ends  together ; 
this  knot  never  gives.    Observe  the  following  figures : 


\\ 


Fig.  1. 


Flir.  2. 


Figure  2  is  the  single  knot,  but  it  is  liable  to  slip.  Keep  adding 
to  these  two  links,  either  thicker  at  one  end  or  thinner  at  the  other,  till 
you  get  the  required  length  of  foot-line.  To  the  thick  end  may  be 
added  two  or  three  lengths  of  double  and  treble  gu' ,  if  you  like  it,  it  is 
rather  better.  To  twist  gut,  you  must  wet  it  and  put  one  or  two  in 
each  quill,  with  a  stick  to  keep  it  from  slipping,  then  plait  one  over  the 
other,  drawing  it  out  of  the  quills  as  you  proceed.  I  have  mentioned 
this,  not  because  I  thought  it  necessary — for  I  presume  every  school- 


FLY-FISHINO. 


455 


boy  knows  how  to  plait  a  line — but  for  fear  I  might  meet  with  a  little 
abuse  if  I  did  leave  it  out.  T  always  buy  my  links  already  plaited,  as 
they  are  better  done  by  machine,  and  it  saves  much  bother.  Hair 
points  for  trout-fishing  are  also  made  in  a  similar  way  to  the  double 
and  treble  gut,  by  increasing  or  diminishing  the  number  of  hairs  ac- 
cording to  the  substance  required. 

The  next  article  that  deserves  our  attention  is  the  line.  It  is  a 
point  of  much  dispute  among  fishermen,  whether  hair,  hair  and  silk,  or 
hemp  lines  are  best  for  Salmon ;  for  all  seem  to  agree  that  for  trout- 
fishing  proper  (and  I  mean  always  in  thus  naming  it,  such  as  is  carried 
on  with  suitable  trout-flics  and  a  one-handed  trout  rod),  there  is 
nothing  better  than  a  mixed  hair  and  silk  line  tapered  at  either  end, 
to  reverse,  in  case  of  accidents.  This  is  the  best ;  hair  is  next  host. 
For  Salmon,  however,  the  case  is  different.  You  require  weight  to 
propel  the  line  against  wind,  and  also  great  strength.  I  have  always 
used  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  for  a  line,  one  hundred  of  which 
was  hemp  steeped  in  boiled  oil,  dried  and  well  rubbed  in,  and  fifty 
yards  of  heavy  black  or  gray  country  hair-plait  line,  as  being  stronger 
and  better  than  any  thing  else.  I  use  it  still ;  it  is  infinitely  better 
than  hair  and  silk.  I  prefer  it  to  all  hair,  as  it  reels  up  closer  than 
hair  alone  would  do. 

When  last  in  England,  there  was  great  talk  about  new  discoveries  in 
the  line  way.  I  have  never  tried  them,  and  consequently  cannot  vouch 
for  the  performance  of  them,  but  several  friends  of  mine,  who  are  by 
no  means  contemptible  fishermen,  spoke  strongly  in  their  favor.  From 
the  appearance,  it  is  evident  that  they  are  dressed  over  with  more  than 
boiled  oil,  with  the  use  of  which  as  a  preservative  of  hemp  lines  I  have 
been  long  familiar;  they  present  just  such  an  appearance, and  smell  as 
ii  mixture  of  boiled  linseed  oil  and  soluble  India-rubber  wo-  I — and 
of  that  I  doubt  not  the  composition  is  made. 

The  following  receipt  will  be  found  to  answer  every  purpose,  with- 
out pretending,  however,  to  be  "  the  one :" 

Best  boiled  linseed-oil,  four  ounces  (one-fourth  of  a  pint),  saturated 
s(tlution  of  India-rubber  in  naphtha,  four  ounces ;  mix  well  together,  rub 
with  a  brush  over  the  line  stretched  in  the  open  air;  when  dry,  repeat 
the  dressing,  and  leave  exposed  to  the  air  till  stiff.  Care  must  be  taken 
to  rub  it  on  thinly,  yet  evenly  all  over,  and  avoid  touching  it  till  dry. 

Lines  thus  prepared,  they  tell  me  can  be  thrown  further  than  any 


466 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


other.  If  80,  of  course  they  are  the  best,  but  I  prefer  the  hair,  know- 
ing that  when  wet  it  acquires  such  a  weight  that  you  can  cover  twenty 
yards  with  it  readily. 

Wo  now  come  to  the  consideration  of  reels,  which  we  shall  dismiss 
in  a  few  words.  There  are  only  two  sorts  that  are  fit  for  use,  the 
plain*  and  the  click  wkeel.\  The  others  are  downright  impostors, 
always  getting  out  of  order  or  getting  you  in  trouble,  whichever 
sort  you  have  of  them.  For  Salmon,  the  most  convenient  size  is  one 
four  and  a  half  inches  diameter  by  one  and  a  half  inches  wide  inside. 
Bor  Trout,  two  and  a  half  inches  diameter  by  three-fourths  of  an  inch 
wide.  They  should  have  a  long,  flat  brass  base  to  fasten  to  the  rod  by 
means  of  slides,  and  arc  more  convenient  with  the  new  patent  handle, 
the  ivory  knob  of  which  screws  and  unscrews,  allowing  a  hinge  to 
work  so  that  the  knob  can  either  be  put  inside  and  kept  there  by  a 
notch  cut  m  the  rim  of  the  outside  plate,  or  else  in  the  proper  position 
for  reeling  up. 

REEL   WITH    PATENT   HANDLE. 


A.  Plate  of  wheel  with  cut  in  it. 


*  The  catch  of  a  click  wheel,  unless  well  made  and  kept  oiled,  ia  apt  to  refuse  to 
work  sometimes.  Wlien  it  does  this  in  running  out,  it  overshoots  the  line  and 
fouls.  Take  off  the  cap  and  give  the  steel  dagger  a  blow  with  a  hammer  or  any 
iron  substance ;  this  generally  corrects  the  defect  unless  the  cogs  are  too  much  worn, 
in  which  case  they  must  be  renewed. 

f  Never  buy  a  plain  or  any  other  reel  with  a  stop,  'tis  the  devil's  invention,  to 
cause  you  to  lose  many  a  fish,  and  thereby  "  swear  a  few."  It  constantly  slips, 
and  brings  the  line  up  taught,  and  snaps  when  running  out  fast. 


FLY-FISHINO. 


457 


D.  Handle. 

0.  Pin  to  fasten  in  the  other  joint. 

D.  Of  handle. 

E.  The  ivory  knob. 

The  handle  c,  by  means  of  the  screw  represented  on  d,  is  screwed 
down  on  to  n,  which  keeps  the  whole  in  its  place,  and  presents  the 
same  appearance  as  the  common  immovable  handle,  over  which  it  pos- 
sesses the  great  advantage  of  freedom  from  breakage  while  traveling. 

We  now  come  to  the  consideration  of  the  material  to  be  used  for 
reels.  Brass  used  to  be  thought  good  enough  ;  now  Gennan  silver,  if 
not  silver  ones,  are  in  fashion.  As  long  as  they  work  well,  it  is  no 
great  consequence  what  the  material  be.  I  have  used  brass  for  fifteen 
years  and  more,  and  as  long  as  it  acts  as  well  as  it  has  hitherto  dont^, 
I  must  say  that  nothing  need  be  better. 

THE    ROD. 

The  next  article  deserving  our  notice  is  the  rod,  on  the  goodness  of 
which  as  much  as  any  other  part  of  the  turn  out,  depend*  our  success. 
Some  men  never  in  their  lives  could  make  ti  rod.  An  old  fisherman 
makes  the  best  always;  he  knows  exactly  where  they  shoulc  be  stitf, 
and  where  limber.  There  are  various  styles  in  rods  to  suit  various 
tastes,  and  for  the  following  purposes : 

No.  1.  Twelve-feet  single-handed  trout-rod;  two  pieces  spliced*,  six 
feet  each. 

No.  2.  Fifteen-feot  double-handed  trout  or  salmon;  three  pieces 
spliced,  five  feet  each. 

No.  3.  Eighteen  feet  double-handed  salmon-rod;,  three  pieces,  one 
ferule,  one  splice,  six  feet  each. 

No.  4.  Twenty -feet  double-handed  salmon-rod;  two'  pieces  spliced, 
thirteen  and  seven  feet  each. 

No.  1  is  the  most  magnificent  rod  I  ever  handled ;  it  throws  an 
extraordinary  length  of  line,  was  made  by  Edtaundson  of  Liverpool, 
and  cost  ten  shillings  sterling.  It  is  moderately  limber,  with  heavyish 
top. 

No.  2  is  at  present  on  the  stocks,  and  ought  to  be  good ;  if  it  is 
not,  it  will  travel  and  let  another  take  its  place. 

No.  3  is  a  fair  rod  by  the  same  maker  as  No.  1 ;  cost  thirty  shillings 
sterling;  but  I  fear  the  ferule;  more  are  worse  than  bettei'  than  it. 
30 


458 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


No.  4  is  a  country-made  bottom,  with  an  old  Edmundson  salmon- 
top;  it  is  an  extraordinary  performer;  very  heavy  and  stiff;  most 
inconvenient  to  carry  about;  consequently  such  a  rod  is  not  fit  for 
other  than  those  living  on  the  river  banks.  I  would  never  advise  the 
construction  of  one  except  in  that  case.  For  most  men  twenty  feet  is 
too  long  and  heavy ;  if  so,  eighteen  is  the  size  for  a  salmon-rod  for 
tlieni.  Fifteen  is  only  a  double-handed  trout-rod,  but  will  kill  a  salmon 
if  need  be.  For  a  moderate  fisherman  Nos.  1  and  3  will  be  quite 
sufficient.  For  an  occasional  one,  No.  .3  may  serve.  For  your  inde- 
fatigable man,  twenty  or  twenty-one,  three  pieces  spliced,  is  all  he 
requires ;  for  your  salmon-fisher  seldom  bothers  the  poor  trout. 

Every  rod  ought  to  have  a  spare  top,  and  any  one  going  on  any 
fishing  expedition  of  more  than  three  or  four  days'  duration,  should 
provide  himself  with  a  spare  rod  in  case  of  accidents  to  the  one 
he  generally  uses.  Thus,  for  instance,  a  No.  1  and  N«).  2  rod,  and 
Nos.  3  and  4,  or  Nos.  2  and  3,  would  render  a  person  indifferent  to 
a  breakage. 

We  next  come  to  consider  the  best  wood  to  be  used  in  the  manufacture. 
Many  makers  use  ebony  or  rosewood  for  the  butt,  to  get  the  weight  at 
the  bottom.  It  is,  to  my  mind,  not  necessary.  The  best  rods  I  have 
ever  seen  were  those  made  by  country  fishermen.  They  beat  the  best 
London  rods  to  eternal  smash.  These  rods  were  all  of  English  ash, 
butts  and  middle  pieces,  and  lancewood  tops.  TIks  greatest  secret  in 
the  making  of  a  rod,  is  to  get  perfectly  clean,  straight-grained  wood, 
seasoned  for  two  or  three  years,  and  in  the  six-feet  tops  to  make  two 
splices  glued  and  whipped  over  with  fine,  well-waxed  silk.  Another 
plan,  also  a  very  good  one,  for  tops,  is  to  glue  four  pieces  of  lance- 
wood together,  and  work  the  top  out  of  the  centre  of  the  mass.  Tops 
so  made  always  spring  back  after  using.  They  also  have  generally 
three  splices  in  the  top  piece.  , 

In  a  succeeding  page  I  shall  have  to  describe  a  method  of  throwing 
a  salmon-line,  adopted  on  the  wooded  banks  of  the  Spey,  for  which  a 
different  kind  of  rod  is  required,  so  that  I  may  as  well  describe  it  in 
this  place.  About  half-way  up  tlie  middle  piece  it  fines  off  rather 
suddenly,  that  is  to  say,  out  of  the  proportion  salmon-rods  are  built 
on ,  and  again,  half-way  up  the  top  piece,  that  is,  thence  to  the  point 
it  docs  not  fal!  off  in  the  regular  proportion ;  this  gives  a  great  spring 
in  the  centre,  and  causes  the  top  to  appear  too  heavy,  which,  however, 


FLY-FISIKNO. 


460 


it  is  not.  I  trust,  ere  this  plan  is  commented  on — ns  I  know  fiill  well  it 
will  be,  by  those  who  pretend  to  know  a  great  deal— it  will  be  tried.  I 
have  "  .1  and  taken  too  particular  notice  of  these  rods  to  be  mistaken, 
and  have  >seen  these  in  a  Spey  man's  hands  send  a  line  that  would 
frigiiten  most  people  to  look  at.  These  rods,  when  you  have  acquired 
the  knack,  will  throw  ten  yards  more  line  than  a  common  rod ;  and 
against  wind  they  are  superb. 

We  ought  to  have  stated  that  twenty  feet  is  quite  long  enough  fi»r 
this  rod;  it  is  also  much  stouter  and  heavier  than  an  ordinary  salmon- 
rod.  To  make  ourselves  better  understood  respecting  it,  we  Mill  sup- 
pose it  to  consist  of  three  splices.  These  should  be  carefully  and 
closely  wrapped  on  arriving  at  your  fishing  ground ;  and,  if  ciicum- 
stances  admitted,  might  be  kept  so  until  leaving  the  place  altogether. 
Divide  this  eighteen  feet  by  four,  and  you  get  four  feet  six  inches  as 
the  quarter.  Thus,  the  third  quarter,  i.  e.,  nine  feet  from  the  butt,  is 
where  the  great  play  is  in  this  rod,  and  which,  as  I  said  above,  is 
reduced  rather  more  than  the  proportion ;  while  the  fourth  quarter  is 
not  so  much ;  care,  however,  must  be  taken  not  to  run  into  the  oppo- 
site extreme,  for  a  slight  increase  in  the  size  of  the  top  would  naturally 
throw  the  play  elsewhere ;  and  the  slightest  fining  off  of  the  next 
quarter  confines  the  play  there.  So  much  value  do  I  put  on  this  rod, 
that  I  am  writing  to  the  banks  of  the  Spey  for  a  veritable  one,  the 
which  I  shall  have  great  pleasure  in  submitting  to  any  tackle-maker 
desirous  of  the  pattern ;  for  of  all  rods  in  the  -world  it  is  the  one  best 
adapted  to  the  uncleared  banks  of  all  our  best  salmon  rivers,  where 
frequently  you  are  unable  to  get  your  fly  in  by  any  other  method  than 
as  it  is  termed  "  switching." 

The  great  fault  that  most  rod-makers  commit,  is  not  knowing  where 
to  make  the  rod  give.  This  should  be  at  a  point  below  the  first  splice, 
according  to  the  size  of  the  rod,  suflScient  to  keep  the  strain  from  it, 
and  also  to  prevent  the  natural  stiff'ness  caused  by  the  splice  from 
interfering  with  the  play ;  again  on  the  second  splice,  it  must  give 
from  the  foot,  as  far  distant  as  the  yield  is  from  the  top  of  the  butt- 
piece  ;  and  again  about  the  same  distance  from  its  top.  The  top 
piece  also  gives  at  the  distance  laid  down  for  the  top  of  the  middle 
piece.  I  learnt  this  from  watching  the  play  of  a  Blackwater  rod,  for 
which  the  maker  was  deservedly  famous,  so  much  so,  that  his  rods 
sold  for  more  (plain  though  they  were)  than  Martin  Kelley's  salmon- 


400 


AMERICAK    FISHEB. 


rodH.  I  hIioiiM  not,  however,  advise  any  one  to  inako  his  own  rods, 
unlfHH  h(5  huM  H  ta»te  tliat  way,  when  probably,  after  spoiling  twenty 
or  thirty,  W  ho  is  n  practical  Hshurinan  he  might  hit  on  the  real  thing. 
Th"  limHt  hIihvc  too  much  will  spoil  the  casting  of  a  rod ;  so  that  it  is 
t'xtremc'ly  difliiMilt  to  know  when  to  stop.  Another  great  secret  in 
taking  tho  njont  out  of  your  rod,  is  to  balance  it  well.  Generally 
Hpi'ukiiig,  rodn  are  made  with  a  groove  and  sliding  ring  to  pass  over 
tUii  foot  of  th(!  rod ;  this  should  never  be  fixed  unless  by  actual  ex- 
perimuiit  you  have  ascertained  the  exact  point  where  it  best  suits  with 
thf  rm\  and  lino  you  mean  to  use.  When  you  have  discovered  this 
Mpot,  pin  down  one  ring  and  cut  your  groove  for  the  foot  of  the  reel 
to  fit  in.  Kor  a  beginner  I  would  recommend  a  light  rod — it  will  not 
futigue  him  nearly  so  much ;  he  will  learn  to  throw  a  fly  cleaner  with 
it  than  the  heavier  one.  The  Whippy  rods  are  far  more  difficult  to 
iiHi;  uitiMtically  than  the  others,  but  for  fine-weather  fishing  they  are 
ulcgunt  tooU.  I  trust  I  liave  said  enough  on  this  subject  to  make  myself 
underMtood.  T(»  one  that  knows  nothing  whatever  ^n  the  subject, 
1  huvu  only  to  say — goto  some  respectable  tackle-maker;  ask  for  a 
good  rod  ;  tell  him  you  don't  understand  the  matter,  and  request  his 
iwlvico  and  choice ;  fur  his  own  credit  as  a  judge  he  dare  not  give  you 
a  ba<l  one,  lest  you  should  show  off  his  knowledge  some  other  day. 
U«  who  would  do  this  to  you  must  either  be  a  fool  or  a  rogue — either 
of  which  aspersions  on  his  fair  fame  would  not  be  pleasant. 

Our  next  articles  of  equipment  are  a  landing-net  and  gaff,  or  clip,  as 
it  w  sometimes  termed.  I  have  brought  them  on  the  tapis  together 
because  the  same  staff  does  for  both.  The  best  landing-net  is  made  of 
hickory  steamed  and  bent  into  a  circle;  on  the  outside  of  it,  for  six  or 
eight  inches,  an  iron  plate  is  whipped  on  with  waxed  fine  twine ;  in 
the  <!entre  of  this  plate  is  a  knob,  on  which  is  worked  a  male  screw  of 
the  size  to  fit  the  top  of  the  landing-pole,  which  has  a  female  screw  on 
it.  The  net  can  be  either  of  silk  or  fine  whipcord,  pretty  baggy,  to 
prevent  the  tish  from  flopping  out. 


W 


LANDING-NET    HOOP 


Around  the  outer  edge  of  this  hickory  bow  a  groove  is  run  (suffici- 
ently deep  to  hold  the  cord  by  which  the  net.  is  fastened  on),  having 
small  holes  bored  through  it  every  three-quarters  of  an  inch ;  this  is  by 


FLY-F19UINO. 


4fll 


far  the  best  lu't  I  have  ever  scon ;  8t)mc  there  are  made  »)t'  iron  or  steel, 
jointed,  niid  some  of  wood,  with  soekets  &e.,  like  a  rod,  very  pretty 
and  handy,  but  liable  to  get  out  of  order.  The  clip  ought  not  to  be 
too  small,  it  should  be  two  and  a  half  inclies  wide,  the  pf)int  sliglitly 
bending  outward,  and  about  three  inches  from  the  lower  part  of  the 
bend  to  a  line  perpendicular  to  its  point.  The  pole  (landing)  should 
be  about  four  feet  six  inches  long,  with  a  couple  of  rings  lashed  on  to 
it  eight  or  ten  inches  or  a  foot  from  its  top  and  about  eighteen  inches 
from  its  bottom ;  to  these,  when  you  have  to  carry  the  clip  yourself, 
you  fasten  a  cord  and  sling  it  behind  you.  Trouting,  you  would  hold 
it  in  one  hand ;  salmon-fisliing,  you  cannot,  since  you  require  both 
hands  to  work  the  rod. 


FI8II-DA8KET. 

Tlie  .nost  convenient  thing  to  carry  trout  in  is  a  wicker  pannier, 
fitting  to  the  back,  with  a  hole  in  the  lid — these  are  to  be  bought  at 
any  tackle-shop — in  the  back  of  it  are  holes  for  the  strap  to  run  through ; 
let  me  advise  every  one  to  use,  instead  of  leather,  a  fine  horse-girth  of 
proper  length,  with  leather  at  buckle  and  for  the  strap  inside  the  bas- 
ket; this  girth  does  not  cut  the  shoulders,  nor  does  it  stretch  when 
wet. 

SALMON-BAG. 

Tlie  best  article  for  salmon  is  a  bag  of  moleskin,  lined  with  fine  silk 
oil-cloth,  two  feet  long  by  twelve  inches  deep,  with  a  strap  to  it.  I 
never  carried  one,  but  fancy  it  won't  go  good  with  five  salmon  in  it, 
though  it  will  hold  them ;  I  prefer  having  some  onn  else  to  tote  the 
sack  along,  though,  if  obliged,  I  certainly  would  use  one  of  these — 
they  keep  the  fish  clean,  fresh,  and  nice,  especially  if  you  put  a  little 
wet  grass  into  it;  the  inside  requires  washing  occasionally. 

To  kill  your  salmon  you  kick  him  on  the  head.  To  yervc  out  trout, 
put  your  thumb  into  his  mouth  and  bend  back  the  head  till  you  hear 
a  crack.  Besides  the  humanity  of  the  thing,  it  is  unpleusant  to  hear 
the  brutes  flopping  about  in  your  basket,  and  still  more  so  when  they 
are  brought  to  table  to  see  their  mouths  wide  open.  Those  that  are 
necked  keep  their  mouths  shut,  and  tell  no  tales ;  the  others  gape  most 
awfully,  and  speak  loudly  of  your  cruelty. 

What,  now,  is  the  best  contrivance  for  carrying  your  flies  in  ?  is  a 
very  frequent  question.     Some  use  a  tin  box,  either  oval  or  circular. 


4d2 


AMKRIOAN    riBIIEH. 


with  several  pieces  ot'  curd-bourJ  fitted  inside,  between  which  they 
bestow  tlieir  flics,  castinjjf-iines,  itc.  Otliers,  aj^uin,  and  tiiey  arc  by 
fur  tlie  most  numerous,  uso  pocket-books— niany  of  them  so  volumi- 
nous that  they  require  u  lonkeyto  carry  them.  A  selection  of  a  dozen 
salmon-Hies  and  two  dozen  trout-flies  are  ample  for  the  day's  use;  the 
b:ilan«;e  of  the  stock  may  bo  left  at  home. 

Hero  you  have  the  plans  and  dimensions  of  a  salmon  and  trout-book. 
The  salmon-book  was  made  to  my  order  some  years  ago,  and  has  been 
very  much  adopted  in  England  since.  Its  nrreat  ailvantages  consist  in 
your  being  able  to  stow  away  a  large  number  of  flies ;  to  keep  the  gut 
straight  (for  the  ends  all  hang  out  at  one  end);  a>id, at  the  same  time, 
not  to  be  too  cumbersome.  The  flannel  between  each  layer  of  hooks 
prevents  rust.  The  trout-book  is  one  of  many  years'  standing,  and 
T  do  not  know  a  better  one. 


k.\/ 

X 

X 

/\ /\ 

A 

"*•    ^  y 

O 

\_  x_ 

A 

Fia.  1. 


EXAMPLE    FOR    A    8ALMON-FLV    BOOK. 

Fig.  1  represents  the  leaves,  which  arc  of  parchment,  with  cross-bars 
of  strong  silk,  knotted  through  at  the  point  of  intersection 
of  the  cross-lines ;  the  other  side  of  the  leaf  presents  the 
same  appearance,  the  two  folds  of  parchment  being  stitched 
together  at  the  edges ;  between  each  leaf  is  one  of  parch- 
ment incased  in  flannel — this  absorbs  the  moisture  and 
prevents  rust.  Size,  eight  and  a  half  inches  long  by  four 
inches  wide,  the  outside  case  of  Russia  leather,  on  the  one 
side,  containing  three  capacious  pockets  to  hold  casting- 
lines,  spare  gut,  «kc.;  the  other  side,  with  a  band  of  leather 
stitched  across  the  inside  to  hold  a  pair  of  scissors,  knife,  gatf,  and  a 
spare  place  for  any  odd  matter,  as  lancet,  &c. 

Fig.  2  represents  the  plan  of  hooking  in  a  fly, 
the  barb  of  which  is  passed  under  one  strand  and 
brought  down  to  the  angle  over  the  other  strands; 
six  or  seven  of  these  double  leaves  are  ample. 
The  one  outside  must  have  a  wide  flap  reaching 
lialf-way  down  the  other  side  and  closed  with  a 
wide  buckle  and  strap  to  fasten  the  hook  by  (kept 
in  its  place  by  two  keepers  on  the  flap,  the  other 
on  the  back). 


1\ 


#^l 

* 

^j/|ijfT[|:lt" 

X 

Fig  2. 


/■ 


rLV-risiiiNo. 


4  on 


o 


%iiiHi«iiii««mMTW«***i«r«f*v< 


"'"111"" 


it 


u 0 


MlMUUl^ 


KX'AMPLB    or    A    THOUT-FLY    '<OOK. 

lloro  you  have  thu  plan  of  two  Icuvoh  of  a  trout-book.    TI»o  right  »ido 

forms  a  pockot  with  a  flap.  It  is,  of  (MnirKo, 
double  to  the  turn  of  the  leaf,  stitchod  up 
tho  sides.  The  left  side  is  also  double, 
its  reverse  side  presentinj;  the  same  ap- 
pearance as  thu  one  shown.  O,  are  tine, 
thin  bits  of  cork  to  prev<  the  Hies  beitiu' 
crushed,  o,  «,  a,  a  are  four  sHps  of  stiti 
parchnu'iit  with  pointed  ends  passed  into 
a  sht  at  D,  n,  u,  n.  To  secure  the  flies  you  draw  out  tho  end  of  «  ;  put 
your  flies  under  and  slip  it  njrii'n  into  slit  n.  Three  of  these  leaves, 
forming  six  })age8,  to  fasten  Hies  in,  with  the  pocket  between  each  to 
prevent  entanglement  of  flics  in  each  compartment,  and  four  leaves  of 
Hannel,  to  put  your  wet  flies  in,  arc  suflleicnt. 

The  back  of  this  book  should  be  like  tlio  salmon-book,  with  similar 
pockets  on  one  side,  and  the  band  of  leather  also.  The  most  con- 
venient size  is  four  inches  wide  by  six  inches  deep.  A  buckle  and 
strap  round  tlie  f)utsido  arc  far  handier  than  strings'. 

Having  now  got  through  all  the  various  implements  necessary  for 
tho  fly  fisherman,  it  only  remains  to  notice  tho  ditierent  flies  best 
adapted  for  general  purposes;  for  more  than  that  >/o  cannot  do  unless 
it  be  to  specify  the  materials  and  colors.  We  will  divide  our  flies  into 
three  classes :  trout-flics  proper,  white  or  sea  trout  flies  of  three  sizes 
larger,  and  salmon-flies.  To  render  these  lists  as  plain  as  possible,  we 
•will  hero  give  a  list  of  terms  used :  tarf,  i.  c,  whatever  is  placed  to- 
ward the  heel  of  the  hook  outside  the  tail ;  tail-bndy  ;  tinsel  is  flat 
gold  or  silver;  twist  is  round  ditto;  hackle  is  whatever  feather  is 
fastened  on  at  tho  tail  and  wound  b.eadward;  le^s — these  arc  put  on 
close  to  the  head  and  under  tho  wing;  they  will  not  bo  mentioned 
where  tackle  and  legs  are  formed  of  one  article ;  winffs ;  horns ; 
head. 

TROUT-FLIES. 

No.  1.  Red  Fly. — Body — Dark  red  squirrels'  fur  equal  part  claret 
mohair,  most  claret  toward  tail,  worked  round  brown  silk  wings. 
Wood-drake's  ginger-dun  feather.  Pea-hen  has  same-tinted  feathers. 
Legs — Claret-stained  hackle.  To  make  it  buzzy,  a  copper-tinged 
dun  hacklo  is  wound  on  above  tho  body.     Hook — No.  6. 


't64 


AMESICAN    FISHES. 


No.  2.  Red  Spinner. — Body — Brown  silk,  ribbed  with  fine  jf(»kl 
twist ;  British  officers'  epaulet  size.  Tail — Two  whisks  red  cock  linckk*. 
Wini/H — Wood-drake's  feather,  as  above.     Hook — No.  0. 

No.  .3.  Great  Dark  Drone. — Body — Mole  fur,  or  black  oHtricli 
wound  round.     Leys  and  winys — Blue  dun  hackle.     Hook — No.  5, 

No.  4.  Cow-dung  Fly. — Yellow  mohair,  or  camlet,  mixed  with  littlo 
dingy  brown  fur  of  bear  left  rough,  spun  on  light-brown  silk.  W'in,ya 
Landrail  wing.     Legs — Ginger-colored  hackle.     Hook — No,  7, 

No.  5.  Peacock-Fly. — Body — Brown  peacock's  harl,  dresHcd  with 
mulberry-colored  silk.  Wings — darkest  part  of  starling's  wing  fttHthcr. 
Hackle — Dark  purple  (stained)^  appearing  black,  but  when  held  up  to 
the  light  of  a  dark  tortoise-shell  color.     Hook — No.  0. 

No.  6.  March  Brown. — Body — Fur  from  English  hare's  face,  ribbed 
with  orange  silk  tied  with  brown.  Tail — Two  strands  of  KngliMJi  par- 
tridge tail.  Legs — Feather  (tied  on  hackle  fashion  only  close  under 
wings)  from  back  of  English  partridge.  Wings — Under  part  hen 
pheasant's  wing.     Hook — No  6. 

No.  7.  Sand-Fly. — Sandy-colored  fur  from  English  hare's  neck  Hpiin 
on  same  colored  silk.  Wings — Landrail  made  full.  Lvgi — Light- 
ginger  from  hen's  neck.     Hook — No.  7. 

No.  8. — Stone-Fly. — Body — Hare's  ear,  mixed  with  yellow  niolmir, 
ribbed  over  with  yellow  silk,  and  showing  most  yellow  toward  tail. 
Toil — Two  strands  mottled  English  partridge  tail.  Wiugn  same  nn 
March  Brown.  Legs — Hackle,  stained  greenish-brown.  Harm — Two 
rabbit's  whiskers.     Hook — No.  11. 

No.  9.  Raccoon-Fly. — Body — raccoon's  fur  (belly),wound  round  yel- 
low silk.      Wings  and  legs — Landrail's  wing,  buzzy.     Hook — No,  13. 

No.  10.  Gravel-Bed. — Body — Lead-colored  silk,  wound  on  very 
fine  wing — under  side  of  woodcock's  ' -ing.  Legs — Blackcock's  hnckh', 
rather  long,  wound  on  only  twice  round  the  shoulders.  Hook — No, 
11. 

No.  11.  Yellow  Dun. — Body — Yellow  mohair,  mixed  with  bliu*  fur 
of  mouse,  or  yellow  silk,  well  waxed,  to  give  it  an  olive  tint.  Wingt 
— Lightest  part  of  the  starling's  wing.  Legs — Light-yellow  dun  httcklo, 
^00^— No.  6. 


FLY  FISIUNO. 


405 


No.  12.  Little  Yellow  May  Dun. — Body — Pale-ginger  fur  from 
back  of  hare's  ear,  ribbed  with  yellow  silk.  Tail — Two  whisks  from 
dun  hackle.  Winr/K — Mottled  wood-drake,  olive  tint.  Leys — Light 
dun  hackle,  yellowish  stain.     Hook — No.  1. 

No.  13.  Ji  lack-Gnat. — Bodi/ — Black  ostrich  harl.  Wiiiffti — Dark 
part  of  starling.    Leys — Black  hackle.     Hook — No.  12  or  13. 

No.  14.  Oak  Fly. — Orange  floss  silk,  tied  on  with  ash-colored  silk, 
showing  at  tlie  tail  and  shoulders.  Wings — Outside  woodcock's  wing. 
Legs — A  furnace  hackle,  /.  c,  red  cock's  hackle,  with  a  black  list  up 
the  middle,  and  black  tinge  at  the  extremities  of  the  fibres.  This 
hacklo  must  be  warped  all  down  the  body  at  regular  distances,  and  the 
fibres  snipped  off  till  close  up  to  wings,  leaving  enough  for  legs.  Hwk 
No,  4  or  6. 


No.  16.  Turkey  Brown.- 
with    purple  silk.     Wings 
Hook — No.  7. 


—Body — Dark-brown  floss   silk,    ribbed 
and    legs — Buzzy ;    dark-grain    hackle. 


No.  IG.  Little  Dark  Spinner. — Body — Mulberry- colored  floss 
silk,  ribbed  over  with  purple  silk.  Tail — Two  strands  of  hackle  for 
legs.  Wings — Starling  wing  feather.  Ze^«— Stained  tortoise-shell 
purple-tinted  hackle.     Hook—Jiio.  7. 

No.  1 7.  Grannom,  or  Green-Tail. — Raccoon's  belly  wrapped  on 
brown  silk ;  green  tag  at  end  of  tail  to  represent  egg-bag.  Wings 
very  full,  from  partridge  wing.  Legs — Pale-ginger  hen's  hackle. 
Flook—Vo.  12. 

No.  18.  The  Soldier  or  Fern-Fly. — Body — Blood  orange  floss 
silk.  Wings — Darkest  part  of  starling.  Legs — Red  cock  hackle,  or 
made-bnzzy  with  furnace-hackle  on  above  body.     Hook — No.  5. 

No.  10.  The  Sailor  Fly. — Body — Dark-blue  floss  silk.  Wings 
and  legs  same  as  above.    Hook — No.  5. 

N(».  20.  Alder-Fly. — Body — Peacock's  harl,  tied  with  black  silk. 
Wing — Brown  hen,  or  inside  of  woodcock's  wing.  Legs — Deep  amber- 
stained  liacklc,  or  black  May  ditto.     Hook — No  4. 

No,  21.  Green  Drake. — Body — The  extremities  are  of  brown  pea- 
cock's harl ;  middle  of  pale  straw-colored  floss  silk,  ribbed  with  silver 
twist.    Tail — Three  rabbit's  whiskers.    Wings  and  legs  buzzy.    Wood- 


466 


AMBRIOAN   FISHES. 


drake  white  bar  clipped  off,  or  mallard  tinged  olive,  if  in  a  state  of 
rest,  wings  as  above,  legs  pale-brown  bittern's  hackle,  or  partridge  or 
ptarmigan  feather.     Hook — No.  3  or  4. 

No.  22.  Gray  Drake. — Body  as  above.  Tail  as  above.  Winr/n 
and  leffs — Buzzy;  mottled  mallard  stained  faint  purple;  if  at  rest, 
wings  of  same  colored  mallard  feather.  Legs — Dark  purple-stained 
hackle,  wrapped  over  the  above  colored  body,     ffook — No.  3  or  4. 

No.  23.  Marlow  Buzzy  (the  celebrated  cock-a-bonddu). — Body — 
Black  ostrich  harl  twisted  with  brown  peacock's  hee\.  Wings  and 
legs — a  furnace  hackle,  buzzy.     Hook — No.  8. 

No.  24.  The  Dark  Mackerel  or  Brown  Drake. — Body — Dark- 
mulberry  floss  silk,  ribbed  with  gold  tinsel.  Tail — Three  rabbit's 
whiskers.  Wings — Brown  mottled  mallard.  Legs — purple-dyed 
tortoise-shell  hackle.     Hook — No.  4  or  5. 

No.  25.  Pale  Evening  Dun. — Yellow  martin's  fur,  spun  on  pale 
fawn-colored  silk.  Body — a  fine-grained  feather  from  starling's  wing, 
stained  rather  iight-yellow.    Legs — Pale  dun  hackle.    Hook — No.  12. 

No.  26.  July  Dun. — Body — Blue  mouse  fur  and  yellow  mohair 
mixed  and  spun  on  yellow  silk.  Wings — Dark  starling  stained  darker 
with  onion  (vide  receipts).  Legs — Dark  dun  hackle.  Hook — No. 
12. 

No.  27.  Wren-tail. — Ginger-colored  fur,  ribbed  with  gold  twist — 
hare's  neck  will  do.  Wings  and  Legs — Buzzy  wren's  tail.  Hook — 
No.  12  or  13. 

No.  28.  TkED  Ant. — Body — Peacock's  harl,  tied  with  red  brown 
silk.    Wings — Light  part  of  starling's  wing.   Li^gs — Red  cock's  hackle. 
Hook—yo.  12  or  13. 

No.  29.  Black  Ant. — Body — Peacock's  harl  and  black  ostrich 
mixed.  Wings — Darkest  part  of  starling's  wing.  Legs — Black  cock 
hackle.     Hmk—^o.  12  or  13. 

No,  30.  August  Dun. — Bwly — Brown  floss  silk,  ribbed  with  yellow 
silk.  Tail — Two  rabbit's  whiskers.  Wings — Feather  of  a  brown 
hen's  wing.  Legs — Plain  red  hackle  stained  brown,  made  buzzy  with 
grouse  (English)  wound  on  above  body.     Hook — No.  8. 

No.  31.  Orange  Fly. — Orange  floss  silk,  tied  on  with  biack  silk. 


FLY-FIglllNO. 


467 


Legs — A  furnace  hackle.     Win(j» — Hen  blackbird  or  dark  starling's 
wing.    Hook — No  12  or  13. 

No.  32.  Cinnamon-Fly. — Botly — Fawri-colorcd  floss  silk.  Wings 
— American  robbin's,  or  better  the  long-tailed  thrush,  buzzy.  Grouse 
feather,  or  red  hackle  stained  brown  with  copperas,  on  above  body. 
Hook— 'No.  10. 

No.  33.  Blue-Bottle. — Bright  blue  flo«n  silk,  tied  on  with  liglit- 
brown  silk,  showing  the  brown  at  the  head.  Winf/s — Starling's  wing 
feather.    Ler/s — Black  hackle  wound  on  slightly  from  tail.     Hook — 

No.  6. 

No.  34.  Willow-Fly. — Bodt/ — Mole's  fur,  or  blue  mouse.  Winf/s 
— A  dark  dun  cock's  hackle,  strongly  tinged  a  copper  color.  Hook — 
No.  8.     ■  •      ■ 

These  are  the  best  flies  used  in  England.  They  are  derived  from 
"  Ronald's  Fly-fishers'  Entomology,"  with  colored  plates ;  a  very  ex- 
cellent work.  The  only  variation  I  have  made  has  been  to  substitute 
the  feather  of  an  American  bird  whenever  1  knew  any  suitable.  Un- 
fortunately this  is  not  the  season  for  palmers  or  caterpillars ;  and,  not 
having  the  insect  or  patterns,  I  am  unable  to  give  as  many  as  I  could 
wish,  as  they  are  excellent  trout-killers,  especially  after  a  flood. 

PALMERS. 

No.  1.  The  Red  Palmer. — JBodi/ — I'caeock's  harl,  with  red  cock's 
hackle  wound  over  it,  tied  with  dark-brown  floss  silk;  two  hooks  are 
used,  vide  plate  of  flies  (Ronald's). 

No.  2.  Brown  Palmer. — Mulberry-colored  worsted  spun  on  brown 
silk,  brown  cock's  hackle  wound  over  it  (Ronald's). 

No.  3.  Black  Palmer. — Black  ostrifdi  harl,  ribbed  with  gold  twist, 
red  cock's  hackle  wound  over  it  (Ronald's). 

No.  4.  Yellow  Palmer. — Pale  straw-eolorcd  worsted,  wound  on 
same-colored  silk.     Pale  straw-tinted  cock  hackle  over  body. 

No.  5.  Green  Palmer. — Pea-green  worsted  on  green  silk  body, 
hackle  steeped  in  onion  dye. 

No.  6.  Fawn-colored  Palmer. — Fawn-colored  worsted  on  pale- 
red  silk  body.    Fawnish-red  hackle  wound  over  body. 


468 


AMERICAN  FISHSS. 


The  following  receipts  are  also  taken  from  Ronald's  works  jilto\o 
mentioned,  and  are  excellent. 


RECEIPTS. 

To  DYE  White  Feathers  a  Dun  Color. — Make  a  mordant,  by  dis- 
solving a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of  alum  in  a  pint  of  water,  slightly 
boil  the  feathers  in  it,  taking  care  that  they  be  thoroughly  soaked 
with  the  solution ;  then  boil  them  in  other  water  with  fustic  and  cop- 
peras till  they  assume  the  proper  tint.  This  for  yellow  dun — sumac 
and  copperas  for  blue  dun  tint.  The  greater  quantity  of  copperas  used, 
the  deeper  will  be  the  dye. 

To  TURN  Red  Hackles  Brown.— Put  a  piece  of  copperas  the  size 
of  a  half-walnut  in  a  pint  of  water,  boil  it,  and  while  boiling,  put  in  the 
red  feathers ;  let  them  remain  until  by  frequent  examination  they  nrc 
found  to  have  taken  the  purple  color. 

To  DYE  Olive  T)un. — Make  a  very  strong  infusion  of  the  outside 
brown  coatings  of  onions,  by  allowing  it  to  stand  twelve  or  twenty-four 
hours  by  a  warm  fire.  If  dun  feathers  are  boiled  in  this  they  become 
an  olive-dun ;  if  white  feathers,  they  become  yellow ;  if  a  piece  of 
copperas  be  added,  the  latter  color  becomes  a  useful  muddy-yellow, 
lighter  or  darker,  as  may  be  required,  and  approaching  a  yellow  olive- 
dun,  according  to  the  quantity  of  copperas  used. 

To  DYE  Mallard  Feathers  for  Green  Drake. — Tie  up  the  best 
white  and  black  barred  feathers  from  under  the  wing,  in  bunches  of  a 
dozen ;  boil  them  in'the  mordant,  as  directed  in  No.  1 ,  to  get  out  the 
grease ;  boil  them  in  an  infusion  of  fustic,  to  procure  a  yellow,  and  add 
copperas  to  the  infusion,  to  subdue  the  brightness  of  the  yellow.         , 

To  DYE  Feathers  Dark-red  and  Purple. — Hackles  of  various 
colors  boiled  (without  alum)  in  an  infusion  of  logwood  and  Brazil-wood 
dust,  until  they  are  as  red  as  they  can  be  made,  may,  by  putting  them 
into  a  mixture  of  muriatic  acid  and  tin,  be  changed  to  a  deeper  red. 
As  the  solution  is  not  to  be  a  saturated  solution  of  tin  it  must  be  much 
diluted ;  if  it  burns  your  tongue  much  it  will  burn  the  feathers  a  little ; 
by  putting  the  feathers,  after  the  first  process,  into  a  warm  solution  of 
potash,  they  will  become  purple. 


FLY-FISIllNG. 


460 


To    DYE    FeATUERS  VARIOUS    SHADES    OF   ReD,  AmRER,  AND  BrOWX. 

— Boil  them  in  the  alum  mordant  above,  then  in  an  infusion  of  fustic 
(tal>lc-spoonful  to  a  pint  of  water),  to  bring  them  to  a  bright  yellow  . 
then  boil  them  in  a  dye  of  madder,  peach  or  Brazil-wood.  To  set  the 
color,  put  a  few  drops  of  dyers'  spirit  (to  be  procured  at  any  silk-dyer's) 
into  the  last-mentioned  dye. 

To  STAIN  Gut. — Put  the  gut  into  an  infusion  of  onion-coatings 
(ubove) ;  when  it  is  quite  cold  let  it  remain  until  it  becomes  as  dark 
as  may  be.  Gut  may  be  stained  in  an  infusion  of  cold  green  tea.  A 
cold  dye  of  logwood  will  turn  it  to  a  pale  blue. 

After  a  little  practice  you  will  be  enabled  to  do  wonders  with  your 
feathers ;  perhaps,  also,  with  your  hands,  which,  if  you  operate  exten- 
sively on  all  the  colors,  will  become  quite  a  nondescript  color. 

FLIES — CONTINUED. 

We  inserted  the  foregoing  receipts  in  this  place  in  preference  to  the 
end  of  the  trout-flies,  inasmuch  as,  being  copied  from  Ronald's  work, 
and  having  reference  chiefly  to  his  style  of  tying  flies,  which,  by  the 
way,  is  the  most  correct,  since  he  gives  you  a  colored  representation 
of  the  fly,  and  then  below  it  a  colored  one  of  his  imitation.  To  this 
list  I  have  added  thirteen  more  and  three  palmers,  the  raccoon  being 
one,  and  the  three  last  of  the  palmers,  before  enumerated,  and  the 
ten  following  ones :  I  need  hardly  observe  that  palmers  are  nothing 
more  than  caterpillars. 


Bodtj. 

Ifackle. 

Tinsel. 

Wings. 

.  1. 

Orange  floss  silk, 

Red  twist, 

Silver, 

Woodcock  out- 
side wing. 

2. 

II             II 

Black,  " 

Gold, 

Partridge. 

S. 

II             II 

Red      " 

None^ 

Landrail. 

4. 

Black          " 

Red      " 

Silver, 

Starting. 

5. 

II             11 

Black   " 

II 

II 

6. 

Yellow       " 

II       11 

None. 

11 

7. 

II             II 

Red     " 

Silver, 

Partridge. 

8. 

II             II 

Ginger  " 

None, 

Landrail. 

9. 

Rat's  fur, 

Red      " 

11 

Starling. 

10. 

Mouse  fur, 

None, 

Silver, 

Grouse  buzzy. 

11. 

Pale  iron-blue  mo-  ) 
hair  with  pale  yel-  >• 
low  mixed,            ) 

(legs  picked  out  of  body.) 
None,                  None. 

Sea-swallow, 

12. 

Green  gosling  mohair, 

Bed, 

(t 

Partridge. 

410 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


The  foregoing  lists  are  ample  for  all  trouting  purposes.  Konnld's 
patterns  are  given  with  the  addition  of  the  number  of  hook ;  and,  I 
may  add,  these  are  full  two  sizes  larger  than  English  fishermen  gen- 
erally use ;  the  dozen  last  enumerated  may  vary  in  size  from  No.  6  to 
No.  10,  but  of  this  more  anon. 

We  now  come  to  the  Sea-Trout  Flies — from  Nos.  1  to  4  we  mav  set 
down  as  the  regular  size  for  America,  Nos.  2  to  6  bsing  those  in  use 
in  Ireland,  where  they  most  abound.  They  are  made  much  more 
gaudy  than  trout-flies,  and  yet  not  so  expensively  as  salmon-flies; 
bodies  all  floss  silk  : 


Body. 

Pftle  blue, 

Yellow, 
Red  orange, 

Orange, 


Tail.  Tinsel  Tag.  JTackU.     Wings.         Head, 

J^'tS^- [Silver,  Black  ostrich,    Black,   Starling.  IJ'- 


\      ant's  neck,   J" ' 

Bine  parrot, 
CJuinea-fowl, 


Gold, 


Blue  peacock. 
Gold, 

None. 


These  below  have  fur  or  pigs'-wool  bodies. 

Yellow  and  ) 

Pale    green  [■  "  "  " 

mixed,        ) 


Red, 
Black,  i 


I  peacock. 

None. 

II 


Mixed 
brown, 


,i 


Black,    Mixed, 


Black 
ostrich. 


«t 


Tlie  above  are  half-a-dozen  of  the  very  best  flies  used  at  the  Bally- 
nahinch  river,  in  Ireland — the  best  river  in  the  world  for  sea-trout.  I 
have  given  them  here,  confident  that  they  will  not  disgrace  the  country 
where  they  were  bred  and  born.  I  have  only  to  observe  further,  that 
of  all  fish  in  the  world  they  are  least  particular,  rising  equally  well  to 
salmon  or  trout  flies. 

Before  describing  salmon-flies,  it  will  be  necessary  to  explain  what 
is  meant  by  mixed  wings,  and  how  they  are  made ;  also,  what  is  meant 
by  a  tag.  A  mixed  wing,  as  its  name  implies,  is  one  composed  of  vari- 
ous feathers,  and  also  of  various  hues — at  one  time  greenish,  at  an- 
other blue,  at  another  red,  &c. ;  but  still  the  basis  and  the  method  of 
constructing  it  are  the  same. 

Before  commencing  to  tie  your  flies,it  is  better  to  assort  the  feathers  for 
the  wing.  You  take  a  quantity  of  brown  mallard  fibres,  cut  close  to  the 
hen,  teal,  drake,  or  widgeon,  golden  pheasant's  neck,  guinea-fowl,  par- 


FLY-FISHINO. 


471 


rot,  green  and  blue,  cock  pheasant's  tail,  bustard,  wood-drake ;  separate 
the  fibres  of  one  lot,  laying  them  on  your  table,  with  a  space  be- 
tween each ;  then  take  up  another  lot,  and  lay  a  fibre  down  on  each 
of  the  others;  and  so  on  with  each  bundle,  except  golden  pheasant,  of 
which  you  use  about  one-half  as  much  as  the  others ;  and  parrot,  one- 
quarter,  guinea-fowl  three-quarters,  English  pheasant  one-quarter.  When 
all  are  sorted  out,  roll  them  into  a  bundle,  and  draw  them  out  several 
tin  -  ^  between  your  fingers,  to  more  perfectly  blend  them.  This  is 
y  ordinary  rich  wing  i  <  'lihg  can  be  more  beautiful  or  better. 
Your  Uy  always  wears  an  even  appearance  and  not  blotchy.  When  you 
require  an  extra  colored  tint  to  your  wing,  add  more  of  the  color,  but 
take  care  to  blend  the  fibres  you  add  well  with  the  stock  color.  A 
tag  is  whatever  you  wrap  on  the  bare  hook  outside  of  the  tail.  And 
now  we  come  to  salmon-flies,  of  which  we  can  only  enumerate  a  few 
standard  and  well-known  killers  in  the  old  country,  and  a  few  of  this 
continent.  We  regret  to  say,  for  more  reasons  than  one,  that  we  have 
bad  no  experience  in  salmon-fishing  in  America;  it  is  for  this  reason 
we  crave  the  indulgence  of  our  readers  for  the  meagre  lot  of  American 
standard  flies;  what  we  have  given  are  well-known  killers  in  many 
waters  of  the  old  country,  and  are  the  standard  flies  of  many  and 
various  rivers.  I  have  little  doubt  but  that  they  will  be  found  as 
effective  in  the  new  as  they  are  in  the  old  world.  The  first  lot  are  all 
small  flies,  used  in  Ireland  chiefly  for  salmon.  They  will,  I  doubt  not, 
be  effective  here  for  sea-trout  or  river-trout.  The  size  of  hooks  from 
which  the  patterns  are  taken  vary  from  Nos.  2  to  6 ;  on  the  smallest 
of  them  I  have  killed  salmon ;  they  may,  however,  be  made  a  couple 
of  sizes  larger. 

No.  1.  Gold  taff.  Tail — Two  fibres  of  hen  pheasant's  tail.  Bodt/ 
— composed  of  fine  red  chenille,  one-third;  light  bluish-green  chenille, 
one-third;  pale-yellow  straw  chenille,  one-third;  claret-colored  cock's 
hackle  for  legs  only,  body  being  bare.  Wings — Great  African  bustard, 
with  four  strands  of  green-blue  peacock  harl.  Head — very  long,  of  com- 
mon brown  peacock's  harl.  (I  state  here,  once  for  all,  that  I  describe 
flies  in  succession  from  the  tail  end,  whence  they  are  connnenced  in 
the  making.) 

An  extraordinaiy  killer,  tricolored  chenille  body,  claret  hackle, 
bustard  wings. 


472 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


No.  2.  Tail — Two  fibres  of  brown  mallard  two  of  red  parrot,  fine 
Hinall  turn  of  pale  orange  tloss  silk,  next  these.  JJody — Black  floss  silk ; 
the  finest  gold  twist,  wound  on  very  close,  i.  e.,  eleven  turns  on  No.  2 
hook.  Legs — Of  red  cock's  hackle ;  body  bare.  Wings — Very  tliick, 
composed  of  sniall  neck  feather  golden  pheasant,  and  two  fibres  of 
the  blue-green  peacock  above  this  brown  mallard.  Head — Black 
ostrich. 

Quite  as  good.     Black  body  and  red  cock's  legs ;  gold  tinsel. 

No.  3.  Shanks — Black.  Tag — Yellow  floss  silk.  Tail — Two  strands 
of  pale-blue  parrot ;  the  yellow  floss  tag  is  wound  twice  around  beyond 
the  tail  quite  close.  Hackle — Gray  cock.  Body — The  yellow  floss 
run  alongiiide  of  a  black  floss  silk  band.  Legs — Partridge  full.  Wings 
— Teal  drake.     Head — Black  ostrich. 

As  good  as  the  others.    Shanks  black ;  partridge  legs ;  gray  hackle. 

No.  4.  The  Foggy  Flv. — Body — One-fourth  green  chenille,  one- 
fourth  pale  yellow  ditto,  one-half  purple  ditto.  A  Marled  Hackle — 
Root  end  first  is  wound  over  the  body,  the  ends  left  projecting  beyond 
the  hook  at  least  half  an  inch.  Wings — Partridge  tail.  Head — 
Orange  chenille. 

A  very  ugly  but  killing  fly.  »  • 

No.  5.  Gold  tag.  Tail — Teal  drake.  Red  hackle — Gold  tinsel. 
Body — Black  floss  silk.  Wings — Mixed  teal  and  mallard.  Horns — 
Blue  and  gold  macaw.     Head — Black  ostrich. 

Not  bad.     Black  and  red  hackle.  \ 


No.  6.  Tag — Yellow  floss  silk.  Tail — Mixed.  Hackle  Red — Silver 
twist,  crimson  floss  silk  body.  Mixed  wings,  with  golden  pheasant- 
neck.     Macaw  horns.     Head — Ostrich.  ./ 

Very  good  crimson  and  red  hackle. 

No.  7.  Tag — Gold.  Tail — Three  golden  orange  parrot  strands,  tin- 
sel gold.  Hackle — Blue.  Body — Blue.  Wings — small  golden  pheas- 
ant neck,  two  blue  English  kingfisher's  feathers  (blue-bird  might  do), 
a  fibre  or  two  of  bustard,  ditto  teal  drake.  Macaw  horns.  Head — 
Black  ostrich.  . 

A  lovely  fly,  blue  body,  ditto  hackle,  ditto  wings. 


FLY-FISHING. 


473 


No.  8.  Gold  tay.  Toucan  golden  tail,  Silver  twist  blue  liackle* 
Body — Two-thirds  pale  rose,  one-third  crimson  floss  silk.  Wtnya — 
Mixed.    Horns — Pale-blue  parrot.     Head — None. 

Great  white  trout-fly,  rose  and  crimson  or  blue  hackle. 

We  now  come  to  the  larger  class  of  salmon  flies : 

No.  0.  Broad  gold  tag.  Tail — Mixed.  Hackle — Red  cock's,  tin- 
sel gold.  Body — Greenish  yellow  floss  silk.  Legs — English  jay  wing- 
coverts.  Wings — Rich,  mixed.  Horns  —  Macaw.  Head — Black 
ostrich. 

Green  yellow  body,  red  hackle  and  jay  legs. 

No.  10.  Tag — Fine  gold  twist  four  or  five  turns.  Tail — Golden 
pheasant  neck,  tinsel  gold.  Hackle — Black.  Body — Pale  blue.  Legs — 
English  grouse  or  argus  pheasant.  Wings — Of  golden  pheasant  neck, 
teal  and  brown  mallard,  American  widgeon,  argus  pheasant,  bustard. 
Head — Black  ostrich. 
.     Blue  body,  black  hackle,  grouse  or  argus  legs. 

No.  11.  Tag — Gold.  Tail — Golden  pheasant  crest,  then  black 
ostrich  two  turns.  Hackle — Long  and  black,  tinsel  gold.  Body — 
Pale  blue  floss  silk.  Wings — Bustard  on  sides  and  teal  drake  in  cen. 
tre.     Head — Black  ostrich. 

Blue  and  black  hackle. 


yi^i. 


No.  12.  Tag — Gold  and  two  turns  crimson  floss  silk.  Tail — Mixed. 
Hackle — Crimson  orange.  Body — Blood  orange  floss  silk,  tinsel  gold. 
Wings — Rich,  mixed  with  extra  gold  pheasant  tail  and  neck.  Horns 
— Macaw.     Head — Ostrich. 

Orange  body,  hackle  crimson  orange.  ' 

No.  13.  Tag — Broad  gold.  Tail — Mixed,  gold,  tinsel,  and  twist 
wound  on  side  by  side  over.  Body — Brown  pale  floss  silk.  Hackle 
— Red.  Wings — Mixed,  showing  most  guinea-fowl.  Horns — Macaw. 
Head — Ostrich.  /  - 

Brown  body  red  hackle.  ' 

No.  14.  Tag — Gold.  Tail — Golden  pheasant  neck  and  pale  blue 
parrot,  gold  tinsel.  Red  hackle,  yellow,  orange  body.  Legs — Of 
English  jay-wing  (blue).  Wings — Rich,  mixed.  Head  and  horns  as 
above. 

31  >: 


474 


AMERICAN'    FISHES. 


Vollowr  orange  body,  red  buckle,  jay  legs. 

No.  115.  Tacf — (Jold  twist.  Tail — Mixed,  gold  twist  (fine).  Hackle 
— lllack.  Hodi/ — JJlack  floss  silk.  LecfK. — Dark  guinea-fowl.  Winya 
— Hiclily  mixed  witli  extra  guinea-fowl.  Ilorm — Macaw.  Head — 
IMuck  oMtricli. 

lilack  body,  ditto  backle,  guincn-fowl  legs. 

No.  10.  Tay — Deep  gold  afterward  orange  silk.  Tail — Golden 
pbeaMunt  neck,  and  ditto  red  tail  feathers,  fine  gold  twist.  Hackle — ' 
Long  black.  Bmly — Black  (bluish  tint)  pigs'-wool  or  worsted. 
Wint/H — ^IJrown  drake,  guinea-fowl,  with  two  or  three  flamingo  fibres 
under  wingH ;  over  the  legs  and  shoulders  a  little  orange  mohair  (least 
quantity).    Head. — Brown  peacock  harl. 

Blue-black  body,  wool-black  hackle. 

No.  1 7.  Ta// — Gold,  then  crimson  floss  silk.  Tail — Two  fibres  of 
mudillc'd  parrot.  Hackle — Red  gold  twist.  Bodi/ — Brown  worsted, 
iyip//*^— Partridge.  Wint/s — Golden  pheasant  neck,  guinea-fowl,  teal 
drake,  blue  parrot.     Macaw  horns.     Head — Red  orange  floss  silk. 

Very  plain  but  effective ;  colors  brown. 

No,  18.  Orange  floss  silk  taff.  Mixed  tail.  Gold  twist.  Hackle — 
Ucd  cock,  JJodi/ — Pigs'-wool,  crimson,  little  black  and  claret  colors 
well  mixed.  Winr/ — Golden  pheasant  neck,  blue  (pale)  parrot  and 
teal  drake.    Head — Black  ostrich. 

Ballynahincb,  County  Galway,  fly. 

No,  10.  Gold  taff.  Mixed  tail,  extra,  golden  pheasant.  Hackle — 
Red  cock'M,  two  fine  gold  twists,  one  each  side,  of  bioad  silver  wound 
on  a  claret-brown  worsted  body.  Leys — Grouse.  Wings — Teal 
drake,  brown  tnbllard,  bustard  and  golden  pheasant  nock,  heavy. 
Harm — Macaw.    Head — Black  ostrich. 

Clarcty-brown  worsted  body ;  red  hackle ;  grouse  legs. 

No.  20.  Tail — Golden  pheasant  crest,  silver  twist.  Hackle — Long 
block.  Body — Least  bit  yellow,  then  black  one-half,  then  yellow  the 
rest  of  pig'H  wool  or  mohair.  Winys — Golden  pheasant  crest,  brown 
mallard,  bustard,  teal  drake,  and  guinea-fowl. 

Block  and  yellow  barred  body ;  black  hackle. 


FLV'FISIIINO. 


•t 


<i) 


No.  21.  Tail — Golden  phcaRnnt  crest,  j^old  twint.  Hachk — Gin- 
ger and  lotijj  body,  straw-colored  mohair.  Legn — English  blue 
jay.  Witujs — Rich,  mixed.  Horns — Macaw.  Hmd — lilack  os- 
trich. 

Straw-colored  fur  body ;  ginger  hackle. 

No.  22.  Tag — Gold  tinsel,  rose  and  orange  floss  silk.  Tail — 
goldcii  pheasant  neck  with  guinea-fowl,  gold  twist  and  tinsel.  Hackle 
— Black  and  long.  Body — Part  rose  floss  silk  one-third,  then  black 
and  claret,  red  mohair,  black  predominating.  Whujs — Heavy,  guinea- 
fowl,  with  bustard,  golden  pheasant-neck,  brown  mallard,  blue  parrot, 
ostrich  black,  and  macaw  Horns. 

Black  and  rose ;  ditto,  and  claret  body ;  black  hackle. 

No.  23.  Yellow  silk  tag.  Mixed  tail,  silver  twist.  Rich  crimson 
body.  Red  hackle.  Black  legs.  Mixed  wings.  Macaw  horns.  Os- 
trich head. 

Crimson  body ;  red  hackle. 

No.  24.  Gold  tag.  Mixed  tail,  gold  tinsel,  red,  yellow,  orange, 
claret  and  black  mohair  mixed.  Body,  red  predominating.  Guinea- 
fowl  or  partridge  legs.  Rich  mixed  Wings.  Macaw  Horns.  Black 
ostrich  Head. 

No.  25.  Gold  tinsel,  then  yellow  silk  tag.  Tail — Of  three  strands 
guinea-fowl,  and  two  of  red  golden  pheasant  tai'  Hackle — Red  cock's, 
gold  (fine)  twist.  Body — lialf  brown,  half  red  mohair  warped  on  fine 
and  close.  Wings — Brown  mallard  and  deep-dyed  orange  guinea- 
fowl.     Horns — Red  flamingo  or  scarlet  ibis. 

Bodies  and  legs  scored  under. 

No.  2G.  Tag — Very  long,  of  gold  tinsel.  Tail — Golden  pheasant^ 
tinted  scarlet,  broad  gold  twist.  Hackle — Blue.  Body — Blue  floss 
silk.  Legs — Very  bushy,  of  blue  English  jay,  and  over  them  a 
couple  of  turns  of  pale  blue  parrot.  Wings — Two  large  golden 
pheasant  crests,  with  ditto  tail.  Horns — Red  macaw.  Head — Black 
ostrich. 

No.  27.  Tag — Gold  tinsel  and  black  ostrich.  Tail — Golden  pheasant 
neck,  red  tint.     Hackle — Black  and  long.     Body — One-sixth  yellow 


476 


AMERICAN   riSHBS. 


pig»'-wool,  four-sixths  black  ditto,  and  then  yellow  the  rest,    Wtnffs — 
Bustard  and  caporcuiizic,  or  guinea-fowl.    Homa — Macaw. 

No.  28.  Tail — Golden  pheasant  crest,  gold  twist.  Body — One- 
half  orange  and  brown  mixed,  most  orange  at  tail,  one-half  black, 
pig's-wool.  Legs — Long  black.  Saddle  hackle.  Wings — A  golden 
pheasant  crest,  with  teal  drake  and  brown  mallard.  Macaw  horns,  and 
ostrich  head. 

No.  20.  Tail — Yellow-orange  worsted  pricked  out,  broad  gold 
tinsel.  Hackle  of  three  colors,  one-fourth  of  crimson,  warped  on 
crimson  body,  next  two-fourths  nearly  black  hackle  warped  on  black 
body,  r«»niainder  pale-blue  parrot  on  dark-blue  body.  Wings — Tamo 
turkey'h  tail,  black,  with  a  white  tip.     H^ad — Black  ostrich. 

No.  30.  Gold  twist  tag.  Tail — Yellow  worsted,  pricked  out ;  gold 
twist.  Hackle — Black  cock,  long.  Body — Pale-blue  worsted,  the 
least  yellow  worked  in  under  the  wings  and  in  front  of  the  legs,  and 
then  pricked  out.     Wings — Dingy  black  and  white  turkey. 

No.  31.  Tag — Yellow  floss  silk.  Tail — Golden  pheasant  neck  and 
guinea-fowl,  silver  twist.  Hackle — Black  cock.  Body — Deep  crim- 
son.     Wings — Mixed.     Macaw  horns.     Ostrich  head. 

No.  32.  Gold  tag.  Mixed  tail,  bluish  tint,  gold  tinsel.  Body — 
Yellow  floss  silk.  Hackle — Red  cock.  Legs — Golden  plover.  Rich 
mixed  wings,  showing  blue  and  red.    Macaw  horns.    Ostrich  head. 

No.  33.  Gold  tag.  Golden  pheasant  crest.  Broad  gold  tinsel.  Red 
cock's  hackle.  Body — Reddish  brown,  orange  and  yellow  pigs'-wool 
well  mixed.  English  jay  legs.  Rich  mixed  wings.  Shining  red 
golden  pheasant  tail.    Macaw  horns.     Ostrich  head. 

No.  34.  Gold  tag.  Gold  tinsel,  with  gold  twist  along-side.  Hackle 
— A  red  marled  one,  set  on  quill  end  first,  and  wrapped  across  the 
gold.  Body — Thin,  of  yellow,  orange,  and  reddish-brown  worsted. 
Wings — Brown  mallard  and  teal  drake.  If  hackle  much  longer  than 
end  of  hook,  shorten  a  little ;  ought  to  be  half  an  inch  longer. 

The  next  are  large  class  flies,  and  must  be  tied  on  double  or  treble 
gut. 


/ 


rLT-FISHIVO. 


477 


No.  36.  Gold  tag.  Golden  plicamint  crest.  Gold  twist.  Body — 
One-third  deep  crin)Hon  flosa  silk ;  ut  the  end  of  this,  one  turn  of 
black  Mstricli  harl ;  then,  on  the  back  and  bully  of  the  fly,  a  small  i.*rcst 
of  the  cock  of  the  rock  is  fastened  short  on ;  the  next  tiurd  is  yellow 
floss  silk,  the  gold  warped  over  it,  the  ostrich  at  the  end,  and  the 
crests  above  and  below;  the  last  third  is  a  deep-brown  orange,  with 
cock  of  the  rock  above  and  below.  English  jay  legs^  close  on  head- 
wards.  Very  rich  mixed  wings  of  golden  pheasant.  Tail — Both  rod, 
and  other  part  and  neck,  teal  drake,  bright  blue  parrot.  Macaw  korna. 
Ostrich  head. 

This  fly  could  not  be  mad   under  two  doUhi's. 

No.  30.  Gold  tag.  Tail — Light  (crimson  worsted  picked  out.  Gold 
twist.  Hackle — Long  gray.  Body — Cri'^son  purrlo  woi:  ted.  Winga — . 
A  golden  pheasant  neck,  dyed  deep  purple,  red*/  h-brown  teal  drake, 
brown  mallard,  two  harls  of  blue  and  two  it  ')rown  peacock's  tail. 
Macaw's  horna.     Brown  peacock's  ha* '  for  l^ead. 

No.  37.  Tag — Brown  peacock's  harl.  Tail — Teal,  red  pAfhw 
pheasant  and  blue  parrot.  Gold  twist.  Black  hackle.  Body — Two- 
sixths  orange,  one-sixth  green,  one-sixth  orange,  one-sixth  green,  one- 
sixth  orange,  floss  silks.  Legs — Dingy  black  hen.  Wings — Golden 
pheasant  neck  feather,  cock  pheasant's  tail  three  fibres,  teal  drake, 
brown  mallard,  golden  pheasant's  centre  tail  feather.  Brown  pea- 
cock's harl  for  head. 


No.  38.  Gold  tag.     Tail — Golden  pheasant  crest,  broad  gold  tinsel 

nd  gold  twist  along  sic'       Black  hackle.     Dark-blue  mohair  hody. 

Wings — Golden  pheasant  n,:  ;;k  and  centre  tail  feather,  brown  mallard, 

wild  turkey.    A  little  deep  scarlet  wool  is  then  worked  in  over  the 

wings,  picked  out  and  clipped  short.     Macaw  horns. 

No.  39.  Tlj^r—^jrold  tinsel.  Golden  pheasant  crest.  Tail — Heavy 
gold  twist,  with  band  of  dingy  orange  floss  silk  warped  along-side 
of  it.  Hackle — Long  black  saddle.  Body — Pea-green  floss  silk. 
Wings — Guinea-fowl  neck  dyed  deep  orange.  Red  tail  of  golden 
pheasant,  teal  drake,  brown  mallard,  and  guinea-fowl.  Four  long 
bustard  fibres  for  horns.     Head — Dingy  olive  mohair. 


478 


AMERICAN    FISHES. 


No.  40.  Gold  ta(j.  Guinea-fowl  and  brown  mallard  tall.  Gold  tifi- 
si'l  with  brown  floss  silk  worked  along-side.  Hackle — Loiiji;  red  (iook'M, 
Bod  I/— Deep  crimson,  mostly  obscured  by  the  brown.  Lri/M — Var- 
tridtro.  Wings — Chiefly  Guinea-fowl,  brown  mallard,  and  Kn^linh 
cock  pheasant  tail,  four  or  five  strands.  Macaw  hurnn,  and  ontrich 
head. 

No.  41,  Gold  and  thin  crimson  silk  tar;.  Mixed  tail,  HJiowinyf  a 
sjood  deal  of  deep  blue.  Broad  gold  twist.  Dyed  clarety-red  hackh; 
Body — Fiery  brown,  i.  e.,  red,  brown,  and  purple,  j)igs'-wool  niixod, 
brown  predominating.  Wings — Brown  mallard,  blue  parrot,  oran^(! 
parrot,  long-tailed  thrush,  and  bustard.    Head — Black  ostridi. 

Such  is  the  list  of  salmon-flies  we  have  selected  from  many  atid 
various  rivers  of  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland.  Were  I  to  attuiiijit 
to  enumerate  them,  it  would  almost  be  an  endless  job.  There  arc  yet 
a  few  more  flies  to  be  added,  such  as  are  fit  for  pike  and  bhuik  buH«, 
which  we  omitted  to  particularize  in  the  early  part  of  the  work,  and 
which,  even  now,  we  will  consign  to  the  end  of  the  fly-HHliiiig  paifc 
altogether. 

Having  now  shown  you,  or  rather  attempted  to  show  you,  how  to 
make  your  hooks,  if  you  like  so  to  do,  and  seriatim  trout-flltm,  rotlw, 
casting-lines,  salmon-flies,  we  must  even  follow  up  by  endeavoring  to 
explain  the  various  methods  of  throwing  and  •vorking  the  tly,  Tliin, 
however,  it  is  diflicult  to  do  on  paper.  Far  more  will  be  learnt  by 
practice,  an  ounce  of  which  is  worth  a  pound  of  precept. 

To  commence,  then,  with  trout -fishing,  Avith  a  single-handed  rod. 
When  put.  together,  t':e  rings  should  all  be  in  a  line,  Unn  one  end  of 
the  line  through  each  of  these,  the  balance  being  reeled  on  to  the  winch, 
which  is  either  screwed  through  or  round  the  butt,  or  elaH|)ed  on  to  it 
by  a  movable  bn  ss  ring  and  catch.  To  quote  Ronald :  "  It  Ik  udviH- 
able  to  practise  the  art  of  throwing  a  fly  on  the  grass,"  prevlouHly  to 
attempting  to  fish.  "  Any  open  space  free  from  trees,"  says  he,  "  will 
do.  A  piece  of  paper  may  represent  the  spot  to  be  thrown  to. 
Taking  the  wind  in  his  back,  the  tyro,  with  a  short  line  at  first,  may 
attempt  to  cast  within  an  inch  or  two  of  the  paper;  and  afterwanl, 
by  iegrees,  lengthen  his  line  as  his  improvement  proceeds ;  ln(  may 
then  try  to  throw  in  such  a  direction  that  the  wind  may  in  Momo 
measure  oppose  the  line  and  rod;  and,  lastly,  he  may  practice  throw- 


FLY-FISHING. 


470 


Ing  aj^ainst  the  wind.  In  this  way  a  person  may  become  an  adept  at 
tlu'owing  a  fly  mucli  sooner  than  by  trusting  to  the  experience  he 
may  jjjet  at  the  water  side ;  for,  his  attention  being  then  wholly 
engrossed  by  the  hopes  of  getting  a  rise,  <tc.,  a  bad  habit  may  very 
easily  be  engendered,  which  will  not  be  as  easily  got  rid  of.  He 
fthonld  endeavor  to  impart  to  the  line  a  good  uniform  sweep  or  curve 
round  the  head ;  for  if  it  returns  too  quickly  or  sharply  from  behind 
him,  a  crack  will  bo  heard,  and  the  fly  whipped  off.  There  is  some 
little  diflSculty  in  acquiring  this  tnanagement." 

So  far,  Mr.  Ronald;  and  now  we  will,  perfectly  coinciding  in  every 
particular,  add  a  little  to  his  instructions.  In  delivering  or  throwing  the 
fly,  the  back  of  the  hand  nmst  be  upward,  quite  square.  In  draving 
the  fly  toward  you,  the  wrist  must  be  gradually  turned  till  the  back 
is  downwanl  and  the  thumb  pointing  upward.  This  enables  you  to 
strike  a  fish  by  the  simple  motion  of  clenching  your  fingers,  added  to 
an  almost  iiuporceptible  inward  motion  of  the  wrist  down  very  quickly, 
yet  gently.  In  drawing  out  the  line  for  a  new  cast,  you  raise  your 
arm,  not  your  shoulder,  pointing  your  thumb  outward.  'Tis  seldom 
necessary  to  raise  your  elbow  much,  unless  in  casting  a  very  long  line 
indeed,  when  your  arm  is  bent  as  nmch  as  it  can  be.  Rest  a  moment, 
to  give  your  line  time  to  straighten  behind  you.  This  prevents  the 
crack ;  delivering  your  line  forward  by  turning  the  back  of  the  hand 
upward  and  straightening  out  your  arm.  This  imparts  to  your  rod  a 
sweep  pretty  much  oval,  and  if  you  commence  and  continue  this  prac- 
tice from  the  first,  you  will  soon  get  used  to  it.  At  first  it  fatigues 
the  wtist  a  good  deal,  and  you  feel  cramped,  and  as  if  set  in  a  strait 
jacket;  but  this  wears  off,  use  gives  freedom  and  neatness  to  your 
style  of  throwing.  Nothing  betrays  a  fisherman  sooner  than  the  way 
he  holdtt  and  handles  his  rod.  Learn  this  lesson  and  the  next  well 
and  thoroughly,  .and  you  are  advanced  a  long  way  toward  being  a  fish- 
erman, although  you  may  never  have  had  a  rise. 

The  other  lesson  you  have  to  practise — is  to  stay  your  line  just  be- 
fore it  touches  the  water,  to  prevent  an  awful  splash.  This  is  easy 
enough  to  do;  wlien  you  see  your  line  within  a  foot  of  the  water,  you 
(!aii  either  partly  turn  your  hand  so  as  to  bring  the  thumb  upward 
with  a  slight  turn  of  the  wrist,  or  you  can  move  your  wrist,  keeping 
the  back  of  th?  hand  still  upward.  In  either  ease,  the  motion  must  be 
very  slight,  so  as  only  to  check  the  dow  nward  force  without  stopping 


/ 


y 


480 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


tho  direction  of  the  line.  These  are  the  two  great  dodges  in  throw- 
ing a  fly.  I  wish  I  only  had  in  my  younger  days  as  much  told  to  me, 
as  you  have  had  in  the  last  few  lines ;  many  a  year  passed  before  I 
found  them  out. 

In  fishing  for  trout,  there  are  two  styles  adopted.  One  is,  to  throw 
your  line  nearly  across  the  stream,  letting  it  float  down  and  gradually 
across,  to  your  side.  In  this  case,  and  particularly  in  salmon-fishing — 
for  I  shall  not  have  occasion  more  apropos  to  mention  it — care  must 
be  taken  not  to,  as  tho  term  is,  let  the  line  "  belly,"  which  means,  to- 
let  the  stream  carry  a  part  of  the  line  before  the  flies — which  assur- 
edly it  will  do,  unless,  as  soon  as  your  flies  are  in  the  water  opposite, 
you  slightly  draw  the  point  of  your  rod  up  the  stream.  The  other 
plan  is  called  "  whipping,"  which  means  making  quick  casts,  not  let- 
ting your  line  stay  above  a  few  seconds  in  the  water;  one  style  is 
practised  as  much  as  the  other.  For  my  part  I  adopt  the  first  plan 
in  swift-running  water ;  the  latter  when  fishing  a  dead  pool  or  in  a 
lake.  Three  flies  are  sufficient  to  use  on  one  and  the  same  casting- 
line;  the  last  is  the  "tail-fly,"  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  "the 
stretcher;"  the  other  flies,  which  have  about  four  inches  or  barely 
that  of  gut,  are  made  fast  to  the  casting- line  or  "foot"  line  two  to 
three  feet  apart,  and  are  called  "  droppers"  or  bob-flies.  In  the  selec- 
tion of  flies  great  judgment  is  required ;  some  days  one  sort,  other 
days  another  sort;  the  beetle  tribe,  Coleoptera,  affect  the  hot  days 
most.  The  Ephemera^  or  fish-fly,  cold  days ;  the  water-fly  or  Phryganen, 
cloudy  days  with  gleams  of  sunshine.  The  Dyptera  and  other  land- 
flies,  windy  days.  He  would  do  well  to  commence  with  a  palmer  as 
a  stretcher,  and  the  fly  which  seems  most  suitable  for  the  day  as  a 
dropper  until  he  can  discover  what  fly  the  fish  arc  actually  rising  at. 
The  palmer  is  never  out  of  season,  and  is  a  good  fat  bait^ 

Again,  a  good  deal  depends  on  the  state,  size  and  color  of  the' 
water,  and  the  appearance  of  the  weather.  When  the  water  is  clear- 
ing oti  from  a  flood,  or  is  large,  larger  and  lighter-colored  flies  may  be 
used.  When  it  is  very  low,  clear  and  fine,  much  smaller  and  darker 
flies  are  preferable.  In  dark,  gloomy  weather,  also  judging  from  the 
state  of  the  water,  you  put  on  i  bright  fly,  large  or  small,  as  the  water 
may  be.  In  clear  weather,  the  one  of  darker  hue.  Avoid  high  places 
to  cast  from;  keep  as  low  down  to  the  water  side  as  possible,  if  in  it, 
all  the  better,  as  fish  easily  see  you.    Never  fish  with  the  sun  at  your 


rLY'FMHINO. 


481 


back,  as  that  throws  your  shadow  down  on  the  water  you  want  to 
throw  over. 

We  will  now  suppose  our  tyro  ha«  managed  to  hook  a  halt-pounder^ 
which  will  be  quite  aa  much  as  lie  can  manage  to  get  out.  He  must 
raise  the  poinj;  of  the  rod  up,  and  bear  gently  yet  evenly  on  him, 
never  suffering  the  line  to  get  slack  for  a  moment,  letting  him  run  out 
what  line  he  feels  disposed  to  take,  simply  keeping  the  forefinger  over 
the  line  and  pressing  gently  on  the  rod,  so  a»  in  a  slight  degree  to 
check  him ;  always  endeavoring  to  take  the  fish  down  stream,  reeling 
up  line  whenever  opportunity  occurs,  inercaMing  his  strain  as  the  fish 
appears  to  weaken,  until  at  last  he  can  pull  him  out  on  the  bank  or  get 
him  into  the  landing-net.  The  great  secret  i«  to  keep  the  top  of  your 
rod  well  up,  to  bear  an  even  strain  on  the  lish,  and  to  keep  your  line 
always  tight. 

Bear  these  three  points  in  mind,  and  but  few  fish  you  will  lose. 
Of  course  if  there  are  rocks  or  fallen  trees  in  the  way,  for  which  places 
the  fish  always  make,  you  must  exert  your  utmost  to  prevent  a  lodg- 
ment, bodily  and  by  main  force  if  your  tackle  will  bear  the  strain,  if 
not,  by  manoeuvring  him  past  the  spot. 

Frequently,  when  I  fish  for  trout,  I  use  a  single  hair  in  place  of  gut, 
and  even  with  it  I  do  not  much  dread  a  snag ;  as,  if  you  cannot  turn 
the  fish  away,  you  can  prevent  his  fouling  the  line  by  being  quick  and 
lifting  your  rod  well  up.  White  or  8ca  Trout  are  very  greedy  brutes, 
striking  the  fly  most  generally  when  it  touches  the  water;  conse- 
quently, whipping  is  the  best  for  them.  But,  a»  in  general  you  would 
use  a  double-handed  rod,  this  becomes  too  laborious,  and  consequently 
you  fish  for  them  as  if  for  salmon.  But  still,  what  you  do  for  conve- 
nience sake  is  not  always  the  best,  which  "  whipping"  decidedly  is. 

I  am  afraid  to  say  how  many  I  have  caught  of  these  fish  at  the 
Ballynahinch  river  in  an  hour  with  a  small  trout-rod,  "whipping' 
against  the  double-handed  rods  and  invariably  beat  them.  Never  in 
my  life  did  I  ever  see  so  many  fish  as  these  and  probably  never  shall 
asrain.  Everv  throw,  the  moment  the  flies  touched  the  water,  one, 
two  and  three  sometimes  rose  at  once  to  each  fly.  So  troublesome,  at 
last  did  they  become,  from  often  having  three  hooked  at  once,  that  I  only 
left  on  one  fly.     That  is  the  river,  of  all  others,  for  White  Trout. 

We  now  come  to  the  consideration  of  Halmon-fiHliing,  after  which 
all  other  is  poor.    Be  your  rod  what  it  may,  you  cannot  hope  for  any 


482 


AMERICAN  FISIIEH. 


Lino, 


Shore. 


Man. 


sport  with  a  less  one  than  eighteen  feet,  and  that  is  full  short.  Of 
cuurse  you  use  both  your  hands.  But  the  position  of  the  upper  one 
is  still  the  same  as  when  you  use  a  single  hand  for  trout ;  the  turn  of 
the  hand  and  wrist  (only  you  have  to  straighten  your  elbow  more  and 
raise  your  arm)  is  still  the  same — the  same  oval  sweep  to  save  your 
tlies  from  cracking ;  the  same  rest,  only  longer,  when  the  line  is  behind 
you. 

Every  thing  is  the  same,  even  the  stay  to  save  the  si  'a.sh,  except 
that  the  back  of  the  left  hand,  if  you  are  right-handed  (but  this  you 
ought  not  to  be,  left-handed  fishing  the  right  bank  of  the  stream, 
right-handed  when  fishing  the  left)  down,  the  left  hand  up.  The  right 
hand  should  be  eighteen  inches  above  the  reel; 
the  left  hand  within  a  few  inches  of  the  butt. 
After  delivering  your  line,  you  may  rest  the  butt 
against  your  hip  or  your  groin.  Mind,  if  you  do 
this,  to  have  the  butt  well  rounded,  or  else  you 
will  soon  establish  a  very  fine  raise ;  you  can  rest 
your  right  arm  now  by  taking  hold  with  the  left.  You  must  fisli 
more  down  the  stream  than  for  Trout,  making  an  acute  angle  between 
a  line  from  the  opposite  shore  to  you  and  the  direction  of  your  rod. 

Beware  of  "bellying"  your  line,  as  mentioned  before;  keep  the  line 
at  a  stretch  all  the  time,  giving  it  a  slight  "  undulating  motion"  up 
and  down,  and  gradually  yet  slowly  draw  it  toward  the  side  you  are 
on.  Don't  fish  a  longer  line  than  you  can  manage.  That  is  the 
way  you  are  to  act  when  all  is  cl'^ar  behind  you ;  but  may  I  be  so 
bold  as  to  inquire  how  you  mean  to  manage  under  that  high  over- 
hanging crag  with  all  those  nice  trees  growing  down  to  the  water-side, 
'tis  a  beautiful  hole  "tn  verite,''^  and  must  be  fished.  "I  really  don't 
know,"  say  you ;  "  my  line  will  be  fast  in  the  trees  if  I  throw  behind 
me."  That  I  also  know,  and,  moreover,  that  you  cannot  bring  it  be- 
hind you  up  stream,  if  you  mean  in  any  ways  to  cast  across  it.  But 
come,  I  will  put  you  up  to  the  spicy  dodge  I  mentioned  a  while  ago, 
and  although  your  rod  is  not  the  thing,  we  can  manage  middling  in- 
litfcrcntly  with  it. 

Mind,  it  is  the  most  difficult  style  of  throwing,  but  is  also,  when 
learnt,  unquestionably  the  best.  It  will  astonish  you  with  the  length 
of  line  even  your  rod  will  take ;  mine  would  throw  fully  one-third 
further  ■  "      ,  ^      . 


^ 


FLY-FISHING. 


483 


I: 

li 


Now,  observe,  I  will  allow  the  line  to  run  down  the  current  till  it  is 
fit  its  full  length.  Now  you  will  presently  see  ine  raise  my  anus 
(keeping  the  rod  point  upward)  as  high  as  I  can,  to  release  as  uuich 
lino  as  possible  from  the  Avater,  and  so  to  enable  it  to  come  back  with- 
out exertion.  As  soon  as  this  is  done,  the  point  of  the  rod  is  thrown 
back  sideways  up  stream,  at  an  acute  angle  to  the  body,  about  the 
level  of  the  bent  left  arm,  pretty  much  as  you  would  bring  back  a 
scythe,  only  tluit  the  elbows  are  more  crooked,  and  consequently  have 
not  the  same  swing.  ■*•  - 


When  so  brought  back,  the  back  of  the  right  luuid  is  down,  that  of 
the  left  up;  this  motion  diops  the  fly  in  the  water  just  by  your  feet. 
After  a  second's  rest  to  let  your  fly  come  safe  to  you  and  touch  the 
water,  and  commence  to  float  down  stream,  the  wrists  are  sharply 
turned,  accompanied  by  a  circular  motion  of  the  arm,  the  left  hand 
grasping  the  butt  is  brought  in  under  the  riglit  arm,  almost  into  the 
pit ;  so  that  the  right  arm  lies  on  the  butt  of  the  rod  at  full  stretch, 
and  pointing  to  the  shore  opposite  you.  In  this  movement  the  back 
of  the  right  hand  is  upward,  of  the  left  down. 

I  ought  to  have  mentioned  that  the  body  is  half-faced  toward  the 
river,  so  as  to  give  as  full  command  of  the  opposite  side  as  possible ; 


484 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


and  instead  of  the  rod  being  thrown  forward  down  the  stream,  it  is 
pointed  across  as  much  as  possible. 

I  much  fear  that  this  description  will  be  difficult  to  understand.  I 
have,  however,  endeavored  to  make  it  as  plain  as  possible,  and  ac- 
companied it  with  three  such  beautiful  drawings  of  the  three  different 
steps,  that  unless  the  engraver  touches  them  up  considerably  they  will 
be  almost  as  difficult  to  understand. 

In  fishing  a  strange  water,  always  endeavor  to  get  the  color  of  flies 
preferred  there,  and  select  accordingly;  but  in  this  country,  where 
you  may  happen  on  scores  of  rivers  where  there  are  no  fishermen,  and 
perhaps  no  authentic  account  of  what  flies  are  good,  your  best  plan  is 
to  mount  a  gnat  fly  as  dropper  and  a  gaudy  fly  as  stretcher ;  as,  for 
instance,  the  first  six  salmon  flies,  which  are  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other,  may  be  used  as  dropper3;  9,  10,  and  12  us  stretchers.  If  none 
of  these  suit,  try  a  plain  turkey's  wing,  with  an  iron-blue  body  and 
black  legs,  or  No.  16;  in  fact,  almost  any  fly  I  have  named.  I  will 
undertake  that  more  than  two-thirds  will  rise  fish  in  any  river  in  the 
world.  > 

A  combination  of  English  jay  is  one  of  the  most  effective  flies  in 
the  world,  as  it  can  be  put  into  as  gay  a  fly  as  you  please,  and  also 
into  as  plain  a  one  as  you  like.  The  same  observations  hold  good  for 
Salmon  as  for  Trout,  regarding  appearance  of  the  weather  and  water. 
Do  not  foncy  too  large  flies ;  for  certain  am  I  the  Salmon  don't  except 
when  the  river  is  in  flood.  I  do  not  know  the  numbers  of  Conroy's 
hooks  after  No.  1,  but  two  sizes  larger  than  that  what  Bartlett  calls 
his  3s.  are  large  enough.  Kelly  puts  on  his  B.B.B.,  large  size  Salmon 
hooks,  about  equal  to  Bartlett's  4s.  Remember  that  in  spring  fish- 
ing this  rule  won't  hold  good,  for  you  then  have  to  fish  with  a  thing 
almost  as  big  as  a  mouse,  if  the  waters  are  any  ways  high.  I  have 
given  one  or  two  patterns  of  these  gaudy  spring  flies  amongst  the 
Salmon  flies,  and  amongst  the  Pike-flies  may  be  found  three  with  blue 
bodies,  which  are  used  in  the  Ness,  in  spring,  for  Salmon. 

Salmon  do  not  often  lie  in  the  middle  of  a  very  strong  rapid,  either 
at  the  tail  or  in  the  very  head  of  it ;  they  are  very  fond  of  an  eddy^ 
though  it  may  be  in  the  very  midst  of  a  boiling  torrent.  But  I  have 
as  often  had  sport  at  the  tail,  especially  when  it  ran  into  a  deep  pool, 
in  which  case  I  generally  had  a  rise  on  each  side  of  the  stream  in  the 
back  water. 


11 


FLY-PI8HINO. 


485 


In  fishing  a  place  of  this  sort,  cast  carefully  over  into  the  stream,  at 
first  only  fishing  the  side  you  are  on ;  then,  after  that,  wade  in  as  far 
as  you  can,  cast  as  far  over  as  possible  into  the  dead  water  on  the 
other  side  of  the  stream,  lifting  your  rod  as  high  as  you  can,  else  the 
current  sweeps  away  your  flies  before  the  fish  have  time  to  hook  at 
them. 

I  must  not  dismiss  this  part  of  my  subject  without  saying  a  few 
words  respecting  the  flies  in  use  for  Pike  and  Black  Bass.  For  the 
former,  the  most  successful  fly  I  know  of  is  made  on  a  very  large 
hook — Codfish  c  Lake  Trout  size.  It  has  a  mouse-colored  fur  body, 
with  long,  black,  shiny  hackle  from  the  cock's  rump,  with  two  large 
eyes  from  the  peacock's  tail  set  on  for  wings.  I  have  not  the  least 
doubt,  however,  that  a  fly  tied  to  represent  a  young  duck  or  gosling 
(if  so  be  it  can  be  called  a  fly)  would  be  just  as  effective,  to  say 
nothing  of  one  like  a  mouse  or  a  small  water-rat.  You  must,  how- 
ever, use  gimp  instead  of  gut  for  them,  and  a  shorter  and  stiffer  rod. 
For  Bass,  the  fifteen-feet  two-handed  trout-rod  seems  best  adapted ; 
but  I  confess  I  have  had  no  success  in  whipping  for  them,  and  there- 
fore do  not  speak  very  confidently  respecting  the  best  flies. 

My  only  chance  for  fishing  for  them  has  been  where  there  has  not 
been  a  sufficiency  of  current,  which  is  a  great  desideratum,  unless  you 
have  a  strong  breeze.  White  Bass,  however,  rise  well  at  almost  any 
moderate-sized  trout-fly  (proper),  and  at  times — that  is  to  say,  when 
they  are  in  full  run — you  may  by  this  means  take  a  large  number. 
They  are  an  active  fish,  and  play  well ;  so  that,  with  a  light  rod,  you 
can  have  very  finp  rport. 

Old  General  Gates,  who  served  for  many  years  in  Canada,  has  often 
said  that  the  very  best  fly  for  them  was  composed  of  a  strip  of  a  sol- 
dier's scarlet  jacket  wound  on  as  body,  long  scarlet  hackle  for  legs  and 
wings ;  indeed,  a  feather  from  the  scarlet-dyed  plumes  in  the  soldiers' 
shakos  of  those  days  was  what  he  used. 

I  have  seen  a  very  beautiful  fly  from  Conroy's ;  the  body  of  beautiful 
rich  crimson-scarlet  velvet,  with  long  fibre — or  pile,  1  believe,  the  more 
correct  term  is.  The  wings,  of  four  feathers,  two  on  each  side,  red  fla- 
mingo or  scarlet  ibis  inside,  and  a  very  pale  barred  mallard  feather 
outside. 

I  have  no  doubt  but  that  the  following  flies  would  also  answer  well : 
Golden  pheasant  crest,  tail,  broad  gold  tinsel ;  scarlet  or  red  hackle ; 


480 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


body  tliick,  of  piijs'-wfiol — blood  onuin;c  a  lialf,  yellow  a  quarter,  and 
red  a  (]iiartor,  well  mixed;  wiiio;s,  blue  peacock,  three  or  four  strands, 
and  two  <j;olden  pheasants'  neck  tV'athers ;  horns,  red  and  blue  macaw. 
No.  2.  Crest,  tail,  jjjold  tinsel;  red  cock  hackle;  orange  floss  silk 
body ;  jay  legs ;  wings  as  above ;  ditto  horns.  No.  3.  Red  golden 
pheasant  tail,  silver  tinsel ;  red  cock's  hackle ;  yellow  worsted  body ; 
legs,  red  parrot  or  flamingo;  wings,  flamingo,  backed  by  golden 
)>hcasant  tail.  Very  good  sport  may  be  had  in  the  rapids  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  with  fly,  in  the  months  of  Juno  and  July. 

I  omitted  to  mention  in  the  proper  place  'at  the  only  substitute 
of  the  golden  pheasant  crest,  at  all  approacning  to  the  mark,  is  a 
Billy-goat's  beard  dyed  the  ju-oper  color,  and  that  is  perfect.  I  have 
seen  it  in  a  fly,  and  could  not  tell  the  diftorence. 

And  now  we  have  got  through  the  poetry  oi  the  art.  Hitherto, 
things  have  gone  happy  as  the  nuirriage  bell.  I  have  cottoned  to  my 
subject  con  amove.  What  follows  is  decidedly  against  the  grain.  I 
unhesitatingly  declare,  and  I  confidently  appeal  to  my  brother  angler, 
whether  he,  a  fly-fisherman,  does  not  feel  similarly.  To  me  fly-fishing 
is  a  labor  of  love;  the  other  is  labor — alone.  But  notwithstanding 
such  arc  my  feelings,  it  by  no  means  follows  that  every  one  else  so 
fancies  it.  Every  one  to  his  taste.  It  is  not  given  to  each  individual  to 
be  able  to  find  the  waters  wherein  to  kill  his  Salmon  or  Trout ;  and  it 
cannot  for  a  moment  be  supposed  that,  because  the  Salmon  and  Trout 
are  not,  he  is  to  be  debarred  from  joining  in  the  pleasures  of  the  flood. 
For  this  unfortunate  class  of  people  (I  am  at  present  one  of  the  num- 
ber, and  therefore,  if  I  do  slightly  stigmatize  the  class,  I  trust,  having 
placed  myself  in  the  same  boat,  that  I  may  be  forgiven)  we  will  draw 
from  the  hidden  storehouse  of  our  mind  sundry  dark  and  dismal 
visions  of  things  past.  When,  as  a  little  boy,  we  delighted,  with  a 
hazle  rod,  float,  and  wriggling  worm,  to  pull  out  many  a  perch,  carp, 
tench,  and  slippery  eel,  our  greatest  delight  then  was  to  chuck  them 
out,  sans  ceremonie,  slap  over  our  heads ;  and  now,  at  three  times  the 
age,  our  first  fun  in  fishing  is  to  catch  minnow  with  a  fine  trout  top 
and  a  pair  of  No.  17  hooks. 

We  will,  however,  proceed ;  and,  to  do  this  satisfactorily,  we  will 
divide  this  part  into  two  sections ;  one,  trolling  or  fishing  with  arti- 
ficial bait ;  the  other,  with  natural  bait,  merely  resting  a  moment  or 
two  to  define  what  we  mean  by  the  term  trolling. 


FLY-FIHUma. 


487 


Trolling,  then,  is  of  two  kin*ls:  one  consists  in  letting  a  long  lino 
drag  after  a  boat  progressing  at  a  slow  yet  steady  rate,  either  l>y  oar, 
sail  or  paddle.  About  three  miles  an  liour  is  most  proper.  An- 
other kind  of  trolling  is  practised,  either  from  a  boat  at  anelu»r  or 
from  the  shore.  The  rod  used  is  one  about  eight  ()r  ten  fci't  long, 
very  stiff,  with  very  large  rings  so  as  to  eheek  tie  line  as  little  as  pos- 
sible. To  nniko  a  east,  the  line  is  coiled  down  by  your  feet,  say  fil- 
teen  yards  or  more,  while  only  about  four  feet  is  left  outside  tli- 
rings.  The  rod  is  moved  evenly  two  or  three  times  backward  and 
forward,  with  one  hand  either  across  the  body  if  you  want  to  make  a 
cast  to  your  right,  or  to  the  right  of  your  body  if  to  cast  to  your  left, 
keeping  your  forefinger  pressing  your  lino  to  the  rod.  Tlie  motion 
must  be  even,  eijuable,  no  jerking,  else  the  cast  will  be  a  nndl.  When 
you  get  sufficient  impetus,  withdraw  your  finger,  as  the  rod  top  points 
in  the  direction  you  wish  your  line  to  go.  Very  little  force  is  recjui- 
sitc,  more  depending  on  knack  than  any  thing  else ;  now,  allow  the 
bait  to  settle  down  in  the  water  a  little,  and  connnence  slowly  dmwintr 
in  the  lino  with  your  hand  below  the  bottom  ring,  letting  it  fall  in 
largish  coils  at  your  feet,  and  moving  the  point  of  the  rod  either  up  or 
down,  according  as  you  wish  to  direct  your  bait  here  or  there. 

Wo  shall  now  mention  the  various  implements  in  use  fur  trolling, 
either  with  a  line  or  dead  bait,  the  natural  or  the  artificud : 


IMPLEMENTS    FOR    TROLLING    WITH    EITHER    LIVE    OR    HEAI)    H\IT. 


No.  1.— TiiK  KilL-I)i:vil.. 


a 


^-^ 


i/ 


No.  2 — SbT  I'K    IIllUKS  FOK   A   KlI,L-l)KVIL 


4H8 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


No.  &— Olaw  Uaix. 


No.  4.— Flexible  Mihnow. 


No.  &.— HfujN,  WITH  Cou-Fisu  IlouK. 


No,  6.— Spbino-Sjjap  BsruBE  Setting. 


No.  7.— Spring  Snap  Set 


FLY-riSIIINO. 


489 


No.  8.— DountK  Oorob  Hook. 


No.  9. — Baitinu  Nkedi.e. 


First,  then,  we  will  describe  what  is  called  a  Kill-Devil,  vide  Fig.  1. 
This  is  made  of  lead,  shaped  out  something  fish-ways.  At  tlie  thick 
end  it  has  u  loop  of  wire  soldered  into  it ;  at  the  fine  end,  another 
wire  passed  over  a  triangvilar  piece  of  horn  to  form  the  tail.  This  wire 
is  either  soldered  into  the  lead  or  firmly  whipped  to  it ;  a  piece  of 
broad  silver  tinsel,  with  largish  silver  twist  on  each  side  of  it  is  now 
secured  at  the  tail ;  a  very  thick  crimson  floss  silk  is  warped  on  closely 
over  the  lead ;  the  silver  tinsel  is  then  wrapped  on  with  a  silver  twist 
on  each  side  of  it,  and  close  to  it.  The  whole  is  tied  closely  at  the 
head,  and  your  Devil  is  made. 

Now  it  only  remains  to  attach  the  hooks  to  it. 

These  are  set  on  gut,  as  in  No.  2.  First,  a  and  ft,  being  separate 
from  the  rest,  three  hooks  back  to  back  on  6,  two  hooks  ditto  on  a. 
At  c  there  is  a  small  loop  which  is  inserted  into  the  eye  in  the  head 
of  the  Devil  d.  a  is  shorter  than  b,  and  hangs  below  the  Devil  about 
the  shoulders,  p  hangs  on  the  opposite  side,  about  where  it  is  repre- 
sented, e  is  tied  down  just  above  the  tail.  /  and  ff  are  beyond  it. 
The  Kill-Devil  is  an  excellent  bait  for  Trout ;  quite  as  good  as  a  live 
Minnow.     Strike  the  moment  yoa  feel  a  touch. 

No.  3  is  an  Artificial  Flexible  Minnow.  It  is  composed  of  cotton 
wool  cased  over  with  India-rubber,  and  painted  to  represent  a  min- 
now. The  hooks  are  precisely  similar  to  the  "  Kill-Devil,"  and  set  on 
in  the  same  way,  except  that  the  long  gut,  I,  is  passed  clear  through 
the  body  at  a,  instead  of  being  fostened  at  the  tail.  This  is  an  admir- 
able invention  of  late  years,  and  a  most  undeniable  killer.  I  have 
successfully  used  one  against  three  men  using  the  Live  Minnow  in  the 
same  boat,  and  come  within  three  or  four  of  the  whole  of  them  in  a 
32 


400 


AMERICAN   ribllBS. 


day's  fiHhing.  Black  Bass,  Fiko,  Rock  Bass,  Perch  and  White  Bass 
sooin  equally  to  like  it. 

No.  4  is  an  Artificial  Glass  Minnow — a  plate  of  fluted  glass  some 
three  inches  long  by  three-eighths  wide,  is  set  into  a  back  of  German 
silver,  the  tail  of  German  silver,  hooks  used  as  in  the  others,  only  larger 
and  sot  on  gimp  instead  of  gut,  tied  down  at  the  tail.  It  is  extremely 
showy  in  the  water,  and  well  calculated  for  pike,  which  run  at  it 
greedily. 

No.  5  is  a  Spoon,  with  a  large  Cod-fish  hook  soldered  on  to  it  at  the 
point,  a  hole  being  drilled  through  the  shoulder  end  of  it,  to  which 
usually  a  few  links  of  chain  are  fastened.  It  is  used  with  tolerable 
success  for  Black  Bass,  and  also  for  Lake  Trout. 

No.  0  and  1  represent  a  Spring  Snap-hook,  set  and  unset.  I  do 
not  value  them  at  all ;  they  are  liable  to  get  out  of  order,  catch  in  the 
weeds,  and  tear  your  bait,  which  is  hooked  through  the  lips  with  the 
small  hook,  a,  and  tied  with  a  thread  at  b. 

No.  8  is  the  Common  Double  Gorge-IIook  on  brass  wire,  leaded  at 
a.  This  is  baited  by  inserting  the  hook  end  of  No.  9,  called  a  baiting 
needle  into  the  loop-hole  at  6,  passing  it  into  the  mouth  of  the  fish  and 
out  of  the  vent,  drawing  the  hooks  close  up  to  the  mouth.  This  bait 
is  generally  U8§d  for  night  or  lay-lines ;  it  will  catch  any  fish  almost, 
but  is  more  particularly  used  for  Pike  or  Eels. 

I  have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  mention  the  common  sort  of  Arti- 
ficial Minnow,  because  no  one  who  can  get  the  Flexible  would  ever  use 
it.  It  is  made  of  lead,  and  painted  to  represent  the  fish ;  is  very 
clumsy  and  not  worth  having.  We  have  now  disposed  of  the  artificial 
baits,  and  come  to  natural  ones.  Of  these  we  shall  enumerate  only 
five — the  Salmon  Roe,  Minnow,  Worm,  Maggots,  Craw-fish  and  Frogs. 
Pieces  of  fish  we  look  on  only  as  a  substitute  for  the  Minnow. 

Salmon  Roe,  one  of  the  most  killing  baits  for  Trout,  Eels,  Salmon, 
and  I  may  say,  all  kinds  of  fish,  is  thus  prepared,  according  to 
Blaine :  "  A  pound  of  spawn  taken  from  a  Salmon  some  ten  days  or 
so  before  spawning,  at  which  time  it  is  in  the  best  state,  is  im- 
mersed in  water  as  hot  as  the  hands  can  bear,  and  is  then  picked  free 
from  membraneous  films,  &c.  It  is  now  to  be  rinsed  with  cold  water 
and  hung  up  to  drain  for  twenty-four  hours,  after  which  put  to  it  two 
ounces  of  rock  or  bag  salt,  and  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of  saltpetre,  and 
again  hang  it  up  for  twenty-four  hours  more.    Now  gently  dry  it  be- 


W 


FLY-FIBIIINO. 


401 


fore  the  firo  or  in  tho  sun,  and  when  it  bocotnos  stiff  pot  it  down."  It 
is  bettor  to  use  several  Hinnll  pots  than  one  large  one,  since  by  letting 
in  the  air  it  '\n  liable  to  damage.  Each  pot  should  have  some  melted 
mutton  suet  run  over  the  roe,  and  bo  closely  tied  over  with  bladder. 
If  put  into  a  dry  place  it  will  keep  good  for  a  couple  of  years."  When 
you  use  this  bait  mould  it  up  in  your  fingers.  Use  a  little,  just  suffi- 
cient to  fill  up  tho  hollow  of  tho  hook,  and  hide  the  steel,  placing  two 
or  three  sound  grains  of  it  on  the  point  of  tho  hooks.  This  bait  is 
most  deadly  wlien  used  in  a  flooded  river,  cither  as  tho  water  rises  at 
its  heiglit  or  as  it  clears  ofi*. 

Of  Minnow,  in  its  common  acceptation,  there  are  three  sorts — the 
Roach,  tho  Dace  or  Shiner,  and  the  Stone  Loach.  Tho  first  lives 
tho  longest;  tho  Shiner  shows  most  while  it  lives,  and  tho  Stone 
Loach  is  as  hardy,  perhaps,  as  the  first,  but  is  not  so  plump-looking  a 
bait.  Young  Bass,  Pike,  Perch,  &c.,  are  sometimes  used,  but  aro  not 
nearly  so  good  as  any  of  the  three  above  mentioned. 

These  aro  generally  secured  by  putting  the  hook  in  tho  under  lip 
and  out  of  tho  nostril.  If  this  bo  nicely  done,  they  will  live  a  long 
time.  This  is  supposing  you  use  only  a  single  hook  which,  however, 
I  consider  the  best. 


^ 


Natural  Bait  Tacklk. 


If  you  use  the  Artificial  Minnow  tackle,  you  kill  your  bait  immedi- 
ately. One  small  hook  for  natural  bait  is  made  to  travel  up  and  down 
by  two  small  loops  of  gut  whipped  on  at  a  and  b.  This  is  hooked  into 
the  fish's  lips,  and  one  of  the  three  hooks  at  c  is  stuck  through  the 
back  by  tho  dorsal  fin. 

Need  I  say  how  to  put  on  a  worm  ?  I  fear  I  must.  To  do  it  artis- 
tically, you  must  begin  at  the  head  and  work  it  on  to  your  hook,  if 
net  too  large,  without  showing  tho  steel  at  any  point ;  if  it  be,  let  a 
part  hang  down  at  the  bottom  of  the  hook,  and  a  little  of  the  tail  may 
hang  over  as  a  tit-bit.  The  little  red  worm,  called  Brandling,  is  the 
best — found  among  old  cow-dung  manure.  Worms  are  better  kept 
awhile  in  moss  moistened  with  a  little  cream.  / 


492 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


Maggots  (or  as  they  are  more  geuteely  termed,  gentl'>8,)  arc,  as 
every  one  knows,  the  house-fly  in  its  first  stage  after  leaving  the  egg. 
They  are  plentiful  enough  all  summer.  ^^.  piece  of  meat  ncoi  only  bo 
left  exposed  and  there  will  be  plenty  of  them.  They  are  a  capital  bait 
for  Trout,  used  when  the  water  is  low,  and  best  in  a  blazing  hot  day, 
poked  on  to  a  very  small  Trout-fly.  Just  mn  tho  hook  through  at  the 
thick  end  of  a  couple  of  them,  crossways.  Before  using  your  gciitlcH, 
put  them  in  oatmeal ;  it  hardens  and  cleans  them.  A  copper-cap  box 
with  fine  holes  drilled  in  the  lid  is  a  good  receptacle  for  then),  Lato 
in  the  fall,  you  must  protect  your  breeding-box  from  frost,  or  cIho  they 
all  go  into  the  chrysalis  state.     Always  use  the  largest. 

Crawfish,  also  is  a  good  bait  for  almost  all  kinds  of  fish ;  hook  them 
through  the  body  and  use  them  the  same  as  a  worm. 

Frogs  are  good  for  Pike,  Eels,  Trout  and  Perch.  Do  not  use  tho 
bull-frog,  but  the  grass-green  fellows.  Use  a  moderate  sinker,  cIho  you 
may  find  master  froggy  looking  at  you  from  the  opposite  shore,  as  I 
read  in  the  "  Spirit,''^  happened  to  some  bright  Waltonian, 


Fig.  1. 


Fig,  2, 


Fig.  3. 


For  bottom  fishing  you  require  sinkers  of  various  sizes,  according  to 
the  strength  of  the  current.  These  you  can  easily  make  for  yoiiiMclf, 
by  boring  a  hole  through  a  bullet  with  a  brad-awl,  and  hammering  tho 
ball  on  some  flat  piece  of  iron  till  you  get  it  to  the  shopo  rt'(|uired. 
You  must  then  pass  a  loop  of  some  strong  line  through  it  double, 
splicing  it  sailor-fashion,  and  drawing  the  spliced  part  out  of  sight  into 
the  hole.  With  these  you  require  a  swivel ;  but  you  may  buy  sinkers 
with  a  brass  swivel  ring  at  each  end,  which  are  by  far  tho  best. 


FLY-FISHING. 


403 


Fig.  2  represents  a  trimmer  already  set.  This  is  used  in  still  water 
for  Pike :  a  round  piece  of  wood,  white  cedar  or  white  wood  or  cork, 
painted  red  or  some  showy  color,  about  four  inches  diameter,  with  a 
»tick  stuck  in  the  centre  to  hold  the  line  fast  when  set.  In  this  round 
wood  there  is  a  groove  cut,  represented  at  a,  in  which  the  line  is 
wound  when  set  all  but  a  yard  or  two.  This  line  is  fastened  in  a  nick 
at  the  top  of  stick  h  ;  the  bait  of  course  is  below  it  when  set,  and  the 
stick  above  water.  When  a  fish  takes  the  bait  the  trimmer  turns  over, 
releases  the  line  from  stick  h,  and  pays  out  from  groove  a.  You  must 
look  sharply  for  your  trimmer  in  and  about  the  weeds,  to  which  Pike, 
for  which  they  are  especially  intonded,  always  make  to  bolt  their  prey. 
They  are  very  effective. 

I  have  not  said  a  word  as  yet  about  floats ;  they  are  but  seldom 
used  nowadays;  but  some  people  like  them  who  are  too  lazy  to  feel 
their  lines  all  the  time.  They  are  usually  made  of  cork,  rounded  at 
the  top,  and  tapering  to  the  bottom  with  a  quill-top  fitted  into  a  stick 
run  through  them  over  the  quill ;  a  small  piece  of  quill  is  fixed  to 
hold  the  line,  while  to  the  bottom  of  the  wood  a  wire  loop  is  tied 
also  to  pass  the  line  through.  The  affair  is  then  painted  and  var- 
nished. 

A  swivel  is  a  piece  of  twisted  iron  wire,  or  rather  two  pieces,  con 
ncctcd  together  by  a  fine  round  small  piece  of  iron  fitted  into  the  two 
holes.  Its  heads  arc  then  hammered  out.  to  prevent  its  slipping  out 
of  the  holes,  but  allowing  it  to  work  round  and  round  freely,  {vide 
Fig.  3).  A  good  substitute  when  hard  set,  is  a  common  watch-key 
filed  off  close  below  the  large  circle. 

Now,  I  believe  I  have  done ;  all  but  a  few  words  in  extenuation  of 
having  presumed  to  write  so  far.  Whether  there  is  any  thing  new  in 
the  foregoing  remarks,  I  cannot  say.  Whether  the  subject  has  been 
handled  well  or  ill,  it  becomes  not  me  to  say,  unless  I  may  so  far  pre- 
sume as  to  regret  its  great  deficiencies.  Man  and  boy,  for  twenty-five 
years  have  I  been  fishing,  during  which  time  I  have  had  to  contend 
agaitist  many  adverse  circumstances,  and  have  been  obliged  to  put  my 
wits  to  work  no  small  number  of  times,  either  to  form  some  device 
or  other  or  to  repair  some  casualty.  Under  these  disadvantages,  I 
have  had  to  learn  how  each  and  everything  connected  with  the  art 
was  made,  and  oft  had  to  put  that  knowledge  to  a  practical  test. 
The  labor,  time,  trouble  and  annoyance  that  these  delays  occasioned 


404 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


me,  induce  mo  to  endeavor  to  make  young  anglers  "aufait,^^  to  every 
article  they  are  likely  to  require. 

It  may  be  urged  against  me,  and  probably  will  be,  that  I  have  sacri- 
ficed the  bait-fisher  to  the  fly-man.  I  honestly  confess  my  sin,  and 
have  only  to  urge  in  extenuation,  that  I  hate  the  former  and  adore 
the  latter;  but  still,  I  have,  I  trust,  not  altogether  forgotten  the  bait- 
man. 

I  regret  to  say  that  I  have  had  far  more  experience  in  America  with 
all  kinds  of  bait  than  with  flies ;  such,  however,  is  my  misfortune,  but 
yet  I  would  rather  fish  for  shiners  than  not  fish  at  all.  I  own  a  very 
strong  predilection  for  the  art,  and  I  humbly  lay  this  my  tribute  at  the 
feet  of  my  brother  anglers,  hoping  for  their  praise,  yet  fearing  much 
their  censure.  ^  . 

If  I  have  been  the  means  of  conveying  any  information  or  instruc- 
tion on  any  of  the  practical  operations  of  the  art,  I  have  done  all  I 
hoped  to  do.  And,  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  my  beloved  broth- 
ers of  the  angle,  I  trust  you  may  each  and  all  catch  the  biggest  fish  in 
your  respective  waters ;  that  you  may  enjoy  much  happiness  the  com- 
ing and  for  many  seasons;  that  you  may  live  at  peace  with  all  the 
world,  but  more  especially  with  your  obedient,  humble  servant, 

THE  AUTHOR. 


K  .^^Milll        .»-*—. 

* 

- 

• 

yLY-vifniiaa.                         -i  r 

( , 

,    NOTE  BY  THE  EDITOR. 

1 

* 

* 

As  nearly  all  the  general  teachings  and  maxims  on  fishing  were 
originally  derived  from  British  authorK,  based  upon  Irish  or  Canadian 
experience,  American  fishermen  have  been  compelled,  (by  the  necessity 
of  adaptation  to  their  large  variety  of  lake  or  river  fishing,)  to  make 
numerous  alterations  and  improvemctitn  in  the  getting  up  of  tackle, 
etc.  Some  slight  indication  of  these  varieties  will,  it  is  presumed,  bo 
acceptable  to  our  young  sportsnjen,  while  showing  to  our  best  local 
fishermen  that  American  ingenuity  is  is  expansive  as  our  territory. 
First,  then,  we  speak  of 

R0D8. 

The  General  Rod,  as  it  is  aptly  called,  is  of  course  the  style  most 
generally  in  use.  These  have  five  joints,  mounted  with  either  brass  or 
German  silver. 

The  Trunk  Trout,  also  has  five  joints,  usually  brass  mounted ;  va- 
rieties are  more  cxpensVely  mounted  and  have  hollow  butts. 

The  Bass,  somewha:  similar,  but  not  so  varied,  unless  made  to 
order. 

The  Extra  Fiiiu  Jfiy,  or  joints,  German  silver  mounted,  with  extra 
tip,  is  a  great  favoriK.  ixniong  Bport.srnen. 

The  Single  Ferrule,  four  joint  ,  brass  mounted,  with  guide  rings,  and 
prepared  for  reelf--. 

The  Bamboo,  four  joints,  brass  mounted,  fitted  with  patent  guides ; 
some  have  only  guide  rings. 

The  Cane,  with  either  three  or  four  joints.  Tliese  have  lancewood 
tips  or  not,  guide  rings  or  not,  and  are  mounted  for  reels  or  not. 

The  Walking-Stick,  three  or  "our  joints,  with  or  without  screw 
ferrules,  brass  heads,  ash  butts,  or  '.^ncewood  tips.  Some  prefer  the 
walking-stick  style,  when  made  entirely  of  metal  and  there  are  circum- 
stances which  might  justify  the  cvtrn  expense.  The  party  using  the 
rod  is  the  best  judge. 


1 


f 


406 


AMERICAN   FISHR8. 


Ihe  Plain  Four  Joint,  always  good  for  general  utility,  needs  no  de- 
scription ;  but  the  purchaser  should  make  his  selection  from  at  least 
three  varieties  in  quality,  and  a  respectable  dealer  will  always  have  on 
hand  spare  bamboo  or  reed  poles,  ferrules,  guides,  tips,  etc. 

LINES.  ^ 

The  Best  Linen,  in  coils  of  eighty-four  feet  each,  five  sizes ;  and 
seven  thicker  sizes,  varying  from  ten  to  one  hundred  feet  each. 

The  Best  Linen  Reel,  two  sizes,  from  one  hundred  to  three  hundred 
feet  each. 

The  Best  Linen  Hawser-Laid,  six  sizes,  in  coils  of  eighty-four  feet 
each ;  but  Bank  Fish  or  Sea  Linos  should  be  selected  by  the  party 
going  to  use  them,  or  else  sond  a  sample. 

The  Best  Linen  Blackfish,  three  sizes,  not  less  than  one  hundred 
feet  each. 

The  Swelled-Hair,  two  sizes,  usually  ordered  for  twenty,  thirty  or 
forty  yards. 

The  Salmon-Hair,  two  sizes,  length  to  order.  ' 

The  American  Grass,  in  boxes  containing  one  gross  each. 

The  Chinese  Grass,  in  catty  boxes,  the  contents  various  in  size  and 
number. 

The  Best  Hawser-Laid  Cotton,  (for  cod-fishing,)  thirteen  sizes,  in 
coils  of  eighty-four  feet  'each. 

The  Common  Cotton,  eighteen  sizes,  in  thivty  feet  lengths. 

The  Best  Plaited  Silk,-(sixteen-plait,)  may  be  had  from  twenty  to 
two  hundred  an«l  fifty  yards,  according  to  order,  and  the  Twisted  Silk 
follows  the  same  rule.  The  Patent  Taper  Fly  usually  ranges  from 
twenty  to  fortj'-  yards  ;  the  ordinary  Taper  Hair,  from  twenty  to  fifty 
yards ;  and  the  Relaid  Grass,  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  yards. 

The  nature  of  the  service  required  should  be  explained  to  the 
dealers,  who  will  furnish  any  of  these  lines  with  floats  and  hooks  on 
gut ;  or,  if  you  wish  to  use  ground  bait,  as  if  to  catch  Blackfish,  of 
course  hooks  and  sinkers  must  be  attached. 


REBIjS* 


Bailey's  Patent,  and  Deacon's  Improved  Patent,  are   both  admi- 
rable, whether  in  brass  or  German  silver.     By  pressing  in  or  drawing 


FLY-FISHING. 


497 


O'lt  the  collar  of  the  crank  shaft,  the  wheels  can  be  locked  either  in  or 
out  of  gear  in  a  moment. 

John  Warrin's  American  Balance  Handle,  in  brass  or  German  silver, 
with  or  without  steel  pinions  and  agate  settings,  has  become  a  great 
favorite. 

The  Common  Multiplying,  whether  of  brass  or  German  silver,  has 
been  much  improved  in  manufacture  lately,  and  the  six  sizes  now  in 
use  are  adapted  for  lines  from  ten  to  one  hundred  yards. 

The  Click  and  the  Plain  varieties  also  partake  of  the  general  im- 
provement suggested  by  American  varieties  of  requirement. 

HOOKS. 

The  Superfine  Salmon,  fourteen  sizes  for  isingle  gut,  and  eight  for 
double. 

The  Royal  Improved,  eight  sizes  for  single  gut,  and  eight  for  double, 
is  usually  preferred  for  trout.  ' 

The  Limerick  Trout,  or  O'Shaughnessey,  nine  sizes  for  gimp,  seven 
for  single  gut,  and  eight  for  double. 

The  Kirby  Limerick  Trout,  seven  sizes  for  single  gut,  and  eight  for 
double.  ' 

The  Kirby-bent  Gravitation,  sixteen  sizc\ 

The  Round-bent  Gravitation,  sixteen  size\ 

The  Kirby-snecked  Fish,  various  sizes. 

The  Virgin  Id  has  twelve  varieties,  and  the  (/^lestertown  ten. 

The  Sockd(;!'^er,  or  Yankee  Doodle,  four  varieties. 

The  Cod,  the  u.^ual  well-known,  eight  numbers. 

The  Halibut,  usually  double,  various  sizes. 

The  Limerick  Pike,  double  or  treble,  various. 

The  American  Pike,  biass  wired,  eight  sizes  for  the  single  trimmer, 
and  eight  for  the  double. 

The  Shark,  various  sizes,  with  or  without  chains. 

The  Spring  Snap,  (described  by  "Dinks,")  is  now- made  in  four 
varieties. 

All  the  above  are  made  with  either  flatted,  ringed,  or  filed  ends,  as 
the  purchaser  may  wish. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Floats. — Bound  cork,  egg  or  barrel  shape,  various  sizes.  Unbound 
cork,  do.     Hollow  wood,  do.     Porcupine  and  fancy  quill,  do. 


498 


AMERICAN   FISHES. 


AvtificiaU. — Fish,  glass,  leather,  tinsel,  or  gutta-perchn.  Frogs  and 
mice,  various  sizes.  Insects,  great  variety.  Worms  and  Gentles, 
Dobsons,  all  sizes.  Flies,  for  trout,  bass,  or  salmon.  Shrimps,  silver- 
lace  Minnows,  and  other  bait. 

Swivels. — ^Brass  or  steel,  seventeen  sizes. 

Sinkers. — Bank,  swivel,  ringed,  or  hollow,  various  sizes  and  patterns. 

Spinning  Bait. — Buel's  patent,  with  improved  flies  and  bobs.  The 
Patent  Spoon,  suitable  for  either  artificial  fly  or  minnow. 

Kill-Devih. — -An  immense  variety. 

Squids. — Bone,  lead,  pearl,  or  tin,  round  or  flat. 

Books. — Fly  or  Tackle,  with  flat  reel-lines  and  hooks,  suitable  for 
general  fishing.  ' 


•y^t^^ 


INDEX. 


Abdominal  Malacopterygii,  23. 

meaning  of  the  term,  23. 

list  of  the  fresh-water  fish  of   .hat 
division,  23,  25. 

natural  history  of  the,  34  to  184. 

the  fishing  of,  225  to  296. 
Acanthopterygii,  22. 

meaunig  of  the  term,  22. 

list  of  fresh-water  fidhes  of  that  di- 
vision, 25. 

natural  history  of  the,  185  to  224 

the  fishing  of,  310  to  321. 
Adirondach  Lake  and  Highlands,  256. 
/Eglefinis  Morrhua,  31,  223. 
iEneus  Centrarchus,  25,  198,  305. 
Agassiz,  Professor,  preface,  et  passim. 
Alosa  PrsBstabiiis,  23, 180. 
Amethystus  Saimo,  23,  104. 
American  game  fish,  17 

Bream,  174. 

Haddock,  123. 

Shad,  180. 

Salmonidffi,  34  to  148. 

Sandre,  192. 

Sand-smelt,  298 

Smelt,  136. 

Cyprinidee,  194  to  177. 

Esocidffi,  149  to  163. 

ClupidaB,  178  to  181. 

Siluridse,  182  to  184. 

Anguillidee,  180. 

Yellow  Pearch,  187. 

Whiting,  224. 
Ammodytes  Launcea,  32. 
Anguiilidte,  182  to  184. 
Angler's  apparatus,  the— appendix  A — 

325. 
Apodal  Malacopterygii,  22,  185. 
Apparatus,  the  fly-fuher's,  330. 
Appendix  A.,  325. 

B.,  .330. 

C,  332. 
Argyrops  Fagrus,  30, 217. 
Attihawmeg,  141. 
Atheriua  Mcnidia,  32. 


Lake    Sheep'e-Head, 


AuratuB,  Carpio  Cyprinus,  34. 

Bait,  passim,  under  the  heada  of  various 

kinds  of  fishing. 
Bars  on  the  young  Trout,  28,  97. 
Bar- Fish  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  190. 
Bass  Black,  195. 

Rock,  198. 

Striped,  189. 

Otsego,  145. 

Oswego,   or 
202. 

Sea,  205. 

Little  White,  190. 

Ruddy,  190. 

Striped  Bass  fishing,  297. 

Black  Bass  fishing,  301. 

Rock  Bass  fishing,  305. 

Sea  Bass  fishing,  315. 
Battures,  Truite  des,  108. 
Bay  fishing,  310. 
Black-Fish,  Tautog,  220,  316. 
Blue-Fish,  Skipjack,  218,  32  ». 
Bottom-fishing,  2i. 
Bream,  Americdu,  174. 
British  Coregoni,  24. 
Brook  Trout,  23,  86,  253. 

young  of  the,  86. 

of  the  Marshpee,  87. 

colors  of  the,  88,  91. 

the  Silver,  93. 

the  Common,  93. 

the  Massachusetts,  93. 

the  Black,  93. 

the  Sea,  93. 

theHucho,  93. 

size  of  the,  94. 

of  Waquoit  Bay,  96. 

of  Fireplace,  96. 

habits  of  the,  97. 

of  Hamilton  County,  101 . 

where  they  are  taken,  253. 

the  fishing  of,  253. 

the  rod  for,  254. 

fly-fishing  for,  255,  269. 


608 


INDEX. 


Brook  Troutt  anwcdotM  of  Mi'ing,  957. 

Long  Iiliind  fiihing,  360. 

inland  fiahing,  367. 

buah'ffailiing,  or  dapiog  for.  S73. 
Broaniiua  Vul|{sri«,  .13. 

Cakolina  Trout — misnomer — 93. 
Cann  34,  164. 

Common.  94,  1 64. 

<;o|.    n,  34,  166. 

('Hr|>  fbhiiig,  394. 
CHHiii,  i.m 
Cui  Fi«ii,3i,  IBS. 
Ctiiitrarchua  JEnem,  35,  198,  305. 
Centr'>ori«Ua  NiKrinana,  39,  305,  315. 
Ciiondroptnrygii,  33. 
Oiuwdar.  3U. 
CIihIi,  34. 

lh«  Ma,  39,  307. 
Cliarr,  tii«  Arctic,  33,  136. 
riironiiK  I'oKUMiaN,  39,  313. 

FaMsiatua,  313. 
Clam  bake,  30. 

buit  uii(l«r  various  bends  of  fishing, 
('lupca  VirRMcniis,  34,  180. 
CItiiM'idm,  34,  3«0. 
Cod. Fish, ;»,  332,  338 
Coiifinis,  Hulmo,  93,  lib. 
Coreifonus  Albus,  9.1, 141. 

Oimmo,  S3,  145. 
Corvina  OscuIk,  909. 

Ricbiudacntt,  903. 

tbo  ilrarhlfld,  311. 

t»)«t  MJivft,-,v,  913. 

Arffvrolcu'iia,  311. '  ' 

Ocoiluta,  313. 
Cyprinidw,  liU. 
CypriiiuM  Carpio,  164,  394. 

AurulUN,  166. 

LeuciKCus  Untilus,  170. 

Htilbo  Chrysoleucas,  173. 

Abramis  Versicolor,  174. 

IIydrar$[yra,  176. 
Conroy,  tackle-maker,  preface,  and  pas- 
sim. 
Cookery  of  fishes — appendix  C— 339. 
Conroy  «  rods,  341. 

DKfOTATUS  Pleuronectes,  33  313. 
Drum-Fikb,  S9,  313,  330. 

Erl,  33,  185,  308. 
Erythrogaster,  Halmo,  37.        , 
Esocidro,  94,  149,  9S1. 
Esox.  34, 

Estor,  94, 151,981. 

Lucioides,  94,  154,  951. 


Esox  Reticulatus,  34,  157,  981. 
Fascialus,  94,  IGl. 
Niger,  163. 
Phaieratua.  163. 

VitlHius,  1«>1  I 

Osseus,  94,  W 

Fario  Salmo,  93. 
Faaciatus,  Esox.  94,  HI. 

Pogonias.  913. 
Fish  and  Fishiiii?,  passim. 

game,  of  A,   '^rica,  17. 

Black.  320. 

Blue,  218. 

Cat,  182. 

King,  209. 

Pond.  200. 

Weak.  208. 
Fishes,  fresh-water,  34  to  303. 

shoal-water,  20 1  lo  922. 

deep-sea,  232  lo  225. 
Fishing,  bottom,  21. 

deep-sea,  323. 

ground  buit,  passim,  under  f\a\\v% 

fresh-water,  225.  et  seq. 

lake,  274.  301.  308. 

fiver.  325. 

n  al- water.  310. 

^arp,  294. 

Eel,  308. 

Blue-Fish,  320. 

King- Fish,  313. 

Bass,  Striped,  297. 

Bass,  Sea,  315.  < 

Tautog,  316. 

Drum,  320. 

Sheep's-He:;d,  319. 

Salmon,  925. 

Lake  Trout,  274 

Trout,  253. 

Pickerel,  281. 

Poarch,  290. 

Pike  Pearch,  288. 

Buss,  Black,  301. 

Bass,  Rock.  304. 

Salmon  Trout,  281. 

worm  for  Salmon,  250. 

worm  for  Carp,  294. 
Fish,  how  to  cook — appendix  C — 332. 
Fly- fisher's  apparatus,  the — appendix  B 

—330. 
Fly  for  Salmon,  243,  and  seq. 

for  Trout,  246.  2r  4, 
Black  Bass.  303. 

Striped  Bass,  297. 
Shad.  180. 

for  Herrings.  178. 


i 


moGS. 


603 


Fly  for  all  Bmall  fiahm,  376. 

Salmon  Trout,  377. 
Fonlinalii*,  Sulino,  23, 86. 

Oahk  fiHliPB  of  North  America,  17. 

Garpike,  "24,  163. 

Gold-Fi8h,  34,  166. 

Gill-covers  of  fishes,  46. 

Grayliii);,  Racit's,  131. 

Great  Norilioni  Pickerel,  149. 

Greatest  Luke  Trout,  104. 

Grilse,  under  Salmon,  54,  and  passim. 

Gristcs  Niericans,  3.1,  If).'). 

Growler,  1!>7. 

(Jreve,  Truite  de,  10  < 

(iadidee,  ^i. 

Griates  Salmoides,  19' 

Haddock,  the  American,  323. 

Hshinsr,  333. 
Halibut.  'M,  333. 
Hake,  33. 
Hamiltou  county   oassim  from  335  to 

277. 
Herring,  178. 
Hippoglossus  Vulgaris,  33. 
Hybridization  of  nshes,  69. 
Hooks — appendix  A — 335. 

under  the  head  of  every  kind  of  fish 
ing. 

IsL&ND,  Long,  Trout  fishing  on,  357. 
Trout  peculiar  to,  93. 
Pickerel  of.  34,  161. 

Labridjb,  30. 

Labrax  Lineatus,  35,  189,  397. 

Lafayette- Fish,  307. 

Lake  Trout,  species  of,  36. 

the  Greatest,  or   Namaycush,  33, 
104. 

the  Siskawitz,  33,  113. 

the  Common,  S3,  116. 

the  Sebago,  33,  30. 
Lamprey,  33. 
LeiostomuR  Obliquus,  39. 
Lucioides,  Esox,  34,  154. 
Lucioperca,  35,  193. 

Americana,  193. 

Canadensis,  194. 

Grisea,  194. 

Masamacush,  S3,  136,  374. 
Malacoptorygii,  33,  25, 39,  to  184. 

Abdominal,  34  to  184. 

Apodal,  33  to  185. 

Subbrachial,  333  to  334. 


Minnows,  176. 

Mackinaw  Saltr'on,  34,  86,  974 

Mascatonge,  151 

fishing,  381. 
MalaMheganay,  303. 
Menidia,  Atherina,  39. 
MerlangUN  Ampricaiius,  33,  994. 
Merlucius  Vulgaris,  33. 
Morrhua  Vulgaris,  31.  339. 

iEglefinis,  31,  333. 

Namaycush,  Indian  name  of  Macici'A:.  r 
Salmon,  33, 104. 

fishing,  374. 
Nebulosa,  Umbrina,  39,  313. 
Wigrieans,  Qristcs,  35,  195,  301 

Ceutropristes,  39,  305,  315. 

Obliquus  Leiostomus,  39,  307. 
Otolithus  Rexalis,  35,  308,  313. 

Carolinensis,  35,  36,  39,  308. 
Osculu  Corvina,  303. 
Osseus  Esox,  34. 
Otsego  Bass,  33,  145. 

Lavaret,  34. 
Oswego  Bass,  35,  303. 

difl^erent  from  the  Black,  196 
Osmerus  Viridescens,  33,  136. 
Ovis,  Sargus,  30,  3 15,  319. 

Paorus  Argyrops,  317. 
Percidffl,  35,  187. 
Parr,  passim,  from  34  to  130. 
Pearch,  the  American  Yellow,  95,  187 
380. 

the  White,  35. 

the  Common,  35. 

the  rough  Yellow,  180. 

the  rough-headed  Yellow,  180 

the  sharp-nosed  Yellow,  180. 

ihe  f.lender  Yellow,  180. 

the  Silvery,  311. 

fishing,  380. 
Perca  Americana,  35,  187. 

Pallida,  35. 

Fluviatilis,  35. 

Cerrato  Grannlata,  180. 

Granulata,  180. 

Acuta,  180. 

Gracilis,  180.  - 

Pickerel,  34. 

the  Great  Northern,  34,  164,  981 

the  Common,  34,  157,  381. 

the  Long  Island,  34,  161,  381. 

the  White,  of  the  Ohio  and  Wa. 
lash,  149. 

the  Black  of  Pennsylvania,  149. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


// 


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1.0 


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IIL25  II  1.4    HI.6 

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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  873-4503 


? 

.<> 

^ 

" 

1^ 

•'t 

^ 

504 


INDEX. 


Piekenl,  the  Garpike,  24. 

iuhing,  281. 

the  rod  for,  282,  325. 

the  bait  for,  283. 

the  hooks  for,  285.  286. 
.      the  tackle  for,  284. 
Pike  Penrch,  25. 

the  American,  193. 

the  Canadian,  194. 

the  Gray,  194. 
Pleuronected  Dentatus,  33. 
Pimelodes  Huron,  182. 
Pogonias  Chronii',  24,  213. 

Faaciatus,  213. 
Pond-fish.  200 
Pomotis,  25. 
Porgee,  the  b'g,  30,  217. 

the  Sand,  217. 

the  Rhomboidal,  217. 

Roe-bait,  Salmon,  251. 

Shad,  299. 
Rods — appendix  A — 325. 

under  the  heads  of  each  kind  of  fish- 
ing, 
for  Salmon-Trout,    Pickerel,   &c., 
239  to  325. 
Reels,  under  each  kind  of  fishing,  as 
above,  239  to  325. 

Salmonioa,  23,  34  to  145. 
Salmo,  23. 

Salar,  23,  34. 

Fontinalis,  23,  54. 

Amethystus,  or  Namaycusb,  23, 86. 

Siskawitz,  23,  104. 

Confinis,  23,  112. 

Hoodii,  or  Masamacush,  23, 126. 

Trutta  Marina,  23,  120. 

Erythrogaster,  27. 

Sebago,  26. 

Thymallus  Signifer,  23,  131 

Qsmerus  Viridescens.  23,  136. 

Mallotus  Villotus,  139. 

Coregonus  Albus,  Attihavrmeg,  23, 
145. 

Coregonus  Otsego,  23,  145 
Salmon,  the  True,  23,  54. 

the  Mackinaw,  23,  86. 

the  Great  Lake  Trout,  23, 104. 

Lake  Trout,  23,  112. 

the  distinctions  of,  45,  et  seq. 

the  migrations  of,  63,  et  seq. 

the  size  cf,  79. 

the  growth  of,  60,  et  seq. 

the  hybridization  of,  73. 

the  haunU  of,  74,  225. 


Salmon,  the  habits  of,  34  to  86. 

the  generation  of,  43,  54, 58,  flt«e« 

how  to  propagate,  69,  71. 

thH  fishing  of,  225,  252. 

the  rod, 

the  flies,  250. 

the  roe-bait,  &c.,  251 

Pinks,  34,  63. 

Smolt,  61. 

Peal,  62. 

Parr,  51. 

Grilse,  63. 

Saltator,  Temnodon,  30,  218,  320. 
Sargus  Ovis,  30,  215,  319. 

Rhomboides,  217. 

ArenoBUs,  217. 
ScienidsB,  205  to  217. 
ScombridiB,218,  219. 
Sea  Basa,  29,  205,  315. 
Striped  Bass,  179,297. 
Sea  Chub,  29.  209. 

Pearch,  211. 
Sebago  Salmon,  26. 
Skip-jack,  30,  218. 
Silvery  Pearch,  211. 

Corvina,  211. 
Smelt,  23,  136. 
Snap-hooks,  285,  286,  325. 
Shad,  180. 

taken  with  the  fly,  181. 

roe  bait  for  Bass,  299. 
Sheep's-head,  the  Sea,  215,  319. 

the  Lake,  202. 

the  Lnke  Black,  203. 
Sparidse,  217. 

Subbrach'al  Malacopterygii,  31,  SSit  tc* 
225. 

Tackle — appendix  A — 325. 

under  the  heads  of  every  kind  of 
fish. 
Tautog,  30,  220,  316. 
Tautoga  Americana,  30,  220,  316 
Trolling,  see  Pickerel  fishing,  261 

Blue-Fish  fishing,  320. 

appendix  A.,  325. 

rods,  as  above. 
Trout,  Brook,  23,  86. 

Greatest  Lake,  23,  104, 

Siskawitz  Lake,  23,  112. 

Common  Lake,  23,  126. 

Sebago  Lake,  36. 

Southern,  £5,  26,  39,  208. 

Salmon  or  Sea,  120. 

description  of  the  Brook,  86. 

young  fry  of  the  brook,  92,  97 


I  I 


/,' 


INDEX. 


606 


Tnint,  size  of  the  Brook,  100. 

fishing  of  the  Brook,  233. 

Long  Island  fishiuw,  257. 

Salmon  fishing  in  New  Bruusnick 
277. 

Lake  Trout  fishing,  274. 
Troutlet,  the,  8b. 

Trutta,  Salino  Marina.  23,  120,  277. 
Turbot,  215 

Umbkina  Nebu'oaa,  29,  209,  313. 

VfRioEscBNS,  Osmems,  93,  136. 
Vnlgari',  Broamius,  32. 

Merluciiis,  32. 

Morrhua,  32. 


Vulgaris,  Hippoglossns,  32. 
Poinotis,  200. 


Water,  fresh,  fishes.  34  to  2U3. 

fishing,  239  to  308. 

salt,  fishes,  205  to  225. 

fishing,  310  to  322. 

shoal,  fishes,  205  to  220. 

fishing,  310  to  320 
Weak-Fish,  206,  312. 
White-Fish.  141. 
Whiting,  224,  322. 
Worm  bait  for  Salmon,  250. 

for  other  fishes  under  the  head  ol 
each. 


3:j 


f 


INDEX  TO   SUPPLEMENT. 


Abdominal  Malacoptbrtoii,  861,  8C5, 
867,  869,  871,  877,  879,  383,  896,  888, 
889,  891,  892,  894,  897,  898,  400. 

Acanthopterygii,  403,  405. 

American  Sandre,  403. 

Artificial  Flies,  426  to  435 

Attehawmeg,  897. 

Bass,  410. 

Dear  Lake  Salmon,  400. 
Bee-Flv,  the,  430. 
Black  Drum,  436. 

Fish,  436,  487,  438. 

Fljr,  the,  424. 

Great  Fly,  the,  480. 

Palmer  Hackle,  427. 

do.      ribbed  with  gold,  427. 

Silver  Palmer  Hackle,  427. 
Blu"  Dun  Fly,  the,  431.  j 
Boston,  866.  f 

Bay  Whiting,  405r 
British  Provinces,  the,  425. 
Brook  x'rout,  365,  tt  fiuaim. 
Biiltow,  the,  425. 

Capklin,  the,  N.  W.,  894,  395,  396. 

Carman's  Creek,  L.  I.,  3^6. 

Carrier  Indians,  the,  381,  382. 

Casting-Lines,  411. 

Cavalle,  405. 

Caughlan  Fly,  the,  482. 

Cayuga  Lake,  361,  897. 

Charleston,  S.  C,  405. 

Clarke's  Salmon,  392. 

Cob-Fly,  the,  432. 

Cock-tuil  Fly,  the,  430,  877,  888,  388,  889. 

Columbia  River,  891,  392,  394. 

Common  Trout,  365,  tt  passim. 

Connecticut,  363,  432 

Corregonus,  Albus,  397. 

Artidi,  398. 

Hnrengus,  400. 
Cotton,  on  the  Stone-Fly,  432. 
County  Galway,  410. 
Cow-dung  Fly,  the,  429. 
Cowles,  Mr, 'the  guide,  374,  423. 
Crooked  Lake,  371. 
Cross-fishing,  423. 

Danikl,  on  Fishing,  432. 
DeKay,  Dr.,  865,  867,  371,  872,  378,  875, 
408. 


Dease's  River,  888. 

Detroit,  869. 

Drop-flies,  415. 

Drum  Fish,  487. 

Double  Gut  for  Salmon,  411. 

Eastkrk  States,  363. 

Ekewan,  889. 

England,  429.  - 

Fauna  Boreali  Americana,  379. 

of  New  York,  397,  372,  373,  408. 

Finishing-knot,  the,  417. 

Finncgun,  Mr.  T.,  of  New  York,  426. 

Fraser  Lake,  8S1. 

Eraser  River,  379,  380. 

Fly-Fishing,  366,  420,  et  passim. 

Frontispiece,  descriptions  of  the  twenty- 
four  flics  in.  426  to  433. 

Fort  Vancouver,  384. 

Gairdnkr's  Salmon,  386. 

Gtairdner,  Dr.,  384,  387,  389,  392,  39C. 

Gunie  Lawii,  361 

Garden  River,  365. 

Geneva,  N.  Y.,  371. 

Gold-ribbed  Black  Palmer  Huckle,  427. 

Gold-spinner  Fly,  the,  431. 

Governor  FIv,  the,  432. 

Grav  Drake  Vly,  the,  428 

Greatest  Luke  Trout,  367. 

Green  Drake,  or  May  Fly,  the,  428. 

Greenland,  396. 

HARB's-ear  FIv,  the,  430. 

Hamilton  Countv,  N.  Y.,  371,  373,  375, 

418,4-24. 
Harmon,  D.  W.,  379. 
Hair  lines,  420. 
Harmon's  Travels,  382. 
Herring  Salmon,  398,  399,  400. 
Holme.s.  John  C,  375. 
Horse  Cavalle,  405. 
Hucho,  366. 
Hudson  River,  363. 

Ibis,  the,  426. 
Indian  prize,  365. 
Ireland,  429,  432. 
Irish  Lakes,  the,  423. 

Kaatpootl  River,  392. 


-^VB^  ■-»••' .■''muw'M*  ■  ■ 


a-Maiaw  .••  ntHi — '•»"• 


*>»» 


508 


INDEX   TO   SUPPLEMENT. 


Karr,  Mr.  G.,  of  New  York,  418. 

Kawulitch  Kivcr,  M'd. 

Kennebec  River,  800. 

Kettle  Falls,  383. 

King,  Mr.,  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  40.'). 

Kingdom  Fly,  481. 

King  Fish,  486,  487,  438. 

Laks  Champlain,  800. 

Erie,  8«7,  8U8. 

George,  809. 

Huron,  367,  807,  400. 

Louis,  371,  874. 

Ontario,  897. 

Pleasant,  878. 

Piseco,  374, 424. 

Rackett,  874,  424. 

Simcoe,  897. 

.Superior,  897. 

Country,  the,  869. 

Trout,  366,  871,  876. 

Pleasant  House,  876. 

Trout  flies,  434. 

Huron  Herring  Salmon,  400. 
Law  for  the  preservation  of  Salmon,  862. 
Le  Sueur's  Herring  Salmon,  398 
Le  Sueur,  Mods.,  899. 
Limerick  hooks,  412,  847. 
Loch  Cor  rib,  410. 
Long  Island,  306,  482. 

Lake,  424. 
Lucioperca  Americana,  408. 
Lewis  and  Clarke,  388,  892,  894. 

Mauritcqbz,  426. 

Mackinaw  Salmon,  867. 

Maimed  Salmon,  882,  883. 

Maine,  State  of,  863. 

Mackerel,  405,  488. 

March  Brown  Fly,  the,  432. 

Maudeville,  Mr.,  of  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  403. 

Mascalonge,  397. 

Malacopterygii,  Subbrachial,  404. 

Minnows,  425. 

Mykiss  of  Kamtschatka,  392. 

M'orrell,  Mr.,  of  Lake  Pleasant,  422. 

Namatcush,  865,  367,  869,  370,  872. 
New  Caledonia,  382. 

England,  860. 

Foundland,  425. 

Hampshire,  366. 

Jersey,  364. 

York,  361,  863. 

Niagara  River,  898. 
Northern  Black  Fish,  405. 
North-west  Capelin,  894. 

Company,  379. 
Nova  Scotia,  364,  877. 

Okanagan  River,  888. 
Ouchterard,  410. 
Oulachan,  894. 


Palmer  Hackles,  six  varieti-^s,  427. 

Passaic  River,  864,  878. 

Penetanguishene,  400. 

Percidif ,  403,  405. 

Perlev,  Mr.,  of  St.  John,  N.  B.,  877,  878. 

Pike  Perch,  403,  404. 

Pompnuo  of  Florida,  405. 

Porgee,  436,  437,  438. 

Pulaski,  Oswego  Co.,  N.  Y.,  862. 

QUANNICB,  888. 
Queachts,  886. 
Quiunat,  388,  886. 

Rackett  Lake,  874. 
Red  Char,  the,  388. 
Red  Ant  Fly,  the,  481. 
Rennie,  Professor,  438. 
Rocky  Mountains,  the,  879. 
Round  Luke,  374. 

St.  John,  N.  B.,  377. 

St  Mary's  River,  365. 

Sandre,  American,  403. 

Sault  St.  Marie,  365,  369,  897. 

Sea  Bass,  436,  237,  438. 

Sea  Fishing,  a  table  of  Depths,  Baits,  and 

Way  of  striking  for,  486. 
Tackle,  and  average  weight  of,  for, 

437. 
.   Spring,  Summer,  or  Autumn  Baits, 

to  suit  weather  or  tide,  for,  488. 
Sea  Perch,  488. 
Trout,  377. 
Seneca  Lake,  301,  871,  878,  897,  893,  899, 

404. 
Severn  River,  Lake  Huron,  897. 
Sheep  Fish,  487. 
Sheep's  Head  Fish,  437, 488. 
Shiners,  404,  425. 

Silver-ribbed  Black  Palmer  Hackle,  427. 
Sinkers,  437. 
Siskawitz,  365,  869,  872. 
Skilloot  Village,  383. 
Slip  Knot,  the,  415,  417. 
Smelt,  378,  385,  886. 
Smith,  Dr.,  866. 
Snake  River,  883. 
Snoods,  437. 

Southern  Black  Fish,  405. 
Southern  Sea  Fishes,  405. 
Speonk,  426. 

Spirit  of  the  Times,  N.  Y.,  875,  418. 
Stillas,  New  Caledonia,  381. 
Stone  Fly,  the,  432. 
Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  379. 
Striped  Bass,  436,  437,  438. 
Stuart's  Lake,  379,  880, 881. 

River,  881. 
Stump  Pond,  426. 
Sturgeon,  894. 

Supervisors  of  Oswego  Co.,  N.  Y.,  COl. 
Supplement,  second  part  of  the  First,  86({ 

407. 


fh 


INDKX   TO   8UPPLBMKNT. 


509 


Tautoo,  405,  486, 487,  488. 

Todd,  DFm  897,  400. 

Trolling  for  Lake  Trout,  418  to  42.'>- 

Baft  or  Flien  for,  421. 

Bait-kuttlefur,  421. 

Leader  or  Train  for,  420. 

Line  for,  420. 

Oarauian  or  Guide  for,  421. 

Reel  Ibr,  410. 

Rodfor,41el. 

Ways  of  Striking,  Flaying,  or  Gaffing 
in.  422. 
Trout  FishinK,  proper,  418. 

Rod  andTaoklo  for,  418. 

Use  of  the  Rod  in,  416. 
Trout  Flie*  (Hoe  also  plate  oppoiite  page 

258  in  the  body  of  the  work),  48R. 
True  Sea  Salmon,  872. 
Tsuppitcb,  801. 


U.  S.  Fort  at  Sault  St.  Mane,  365. 

Walambt  River,  888. 
WaleM,  482. 

Wttter-Knot.  the,  415,  417. 
Weak-Fit«h,  the,  486,  487,  488. 
Weak-mouthed  Salmon,  88.S. 
Welch,  Mr.  B.,  of  New  York,  418. 
Whirling  Dun  FIv,  the,  480. 
White  Rsh.  880,  807. 

Great  Fl>,  the,  481. 

Moth  Fly,  the,  481. 

Trout,  877. 
Willow  Fly,  488. 
WiUon,  Professor,  488. 

Ykllow  Palmer  Hackle,  427. 
Pike  Perch,  the,  408. 


INDEX   TO    FLY-FISHING. 


ALDiR-Fly,  465. 
American  Floats,  etc.,  407. 

H.^nks,  407. 

LiMes,  406. 

Reels,  406. 

Rods,  405. 

Tackle,  405. 
Articles  tor  Flies,  442. 
Assortine  Feathers,  471. 
August-Dun,  466. 

Bait,  Natural,  400. 
Baiting  Needle,  4»9. 
Ballyuahinch  Uirer  Fishing,  481. 
Bartlett's  Hooks,  446. 
Bellying,  482. 
Billy-Guat's  Beard,  480. 
Black  Bass,  485. 

Gnat-Fly,  465. 
Blackwater  Rod,  459. 
Blue-Bottle,  467. 
Book,  form  of,  for  Feathers, 
Bottom-Fishing,  402. 

Garmblb  Hooks,  446. 
Carrying  Flies,  461. 
Cinnamon  Fly,  467. 
Codfish  Hook,  485. 
Conroy's  Hooks,  484. 
Cow-dung  Fly,  404. 
Crawford  Bait,  402. 

Dark  Prone-Fly,  464. 

Mackerel-Fly,  466. 
Diagram  of  Portable  Vice,  447. 
Directions  for  Fly-making,  450. 
Dressintt  Flies,  447. 
Dun-Flyj  Pale  Evening,  406. 

July,  466. 
Dyeing  Featliers  Dark  Red,  468. 

Ofive  Dun,  468. 

Mallard  Feathers,  468. 

Red  Hackles  Brown,  468. 

Various  shades,  460. 
.    White  Feathers,  468. 

English  Jay,  484. 

Example  ot  Fly-making,  452. 

No.  II.,  452. 

No.  III.,  453. 

for  Halmon-Flv  Book,  462. 

for  Trout-Fly  Book,  463. 


FEATHKRa,  Varieties  of,  445. 
Fern-Fly,  405. 
Finncgun,  454. 
Fish  Basket,  461. 
Fishing-Cuse,  Plan  of,  448. 

in  Strange  Waters,  484. 
Flexible  Minnow  Hook,  488,  480. 
Floats,  408,  407. 
Fly-Dressing,  447,  450. 

Fishing)  441. 
Fly-Plate,  Explanatiou  uf,  448. 
Fly-Tying,  442. 
Frogs  for  Bait,  402. 

OtAss-Bait,  488. 
Golden-Pheasant  Crest,  485. 
Gorge-Hook,  Double,  4sO. 
Grannom  or  Green-Tuil  Fly,  465. 
Grav-Drake  FIv,  466 
Gravel-Bed  Fly,  464. 
Green-Drake  Fly,  405. 
Gut,  440. 
Gut  Casting-Line,  454. 

Hair-Points,  455. 
Hooking  in  a  Fly,  462. 
Hooks,  440,  407. 

Implisjiknts  for  Trolling,  487. 

Kendall  Hook,  446. 
Kill-Devil  Hook,  487,  480. 
Killing  Trout,  461. 

Salmon,  461. 
Kirby-Bcnd  Carlisle  Hooks,  446. 

Landin6-Nbt  Hoop,  460. 

Trout,  481. 
Length  of  Line,  483. 

Rod,  482. 
Lines,  455,  405. 
Limerick  Hooks,  446. 

Maggots,  for  Bait,  402. 
March  Brown  Fly,  464. 
Marlow-Buzzv  Fly,  466. 
Minnow  Hoo^,  for  Trolling.  488. 
Natural  Bait  Tackle,  401. 
Trolling,  400. 

Note  by  the  Editor,  405.  • 


512 

Oak  Fly,  466. 
Oningo  Fly,  466. 
O'Shaughnessey  Hooks,  446. 

Palmbm,  458,  467 
Peooook-Fly,  464. 
Hike,  48.5. 

Plan  of  Fishing-Case,  448. 
Position  of  Body,  438. 
Rod,  4»2. 

Raoooon  Fly,  464. 
Receipt  for  Linos,  465. 
Receipts,  468. 
Red  Fir,  468. 

Spinner,  464. 
Reels,  496. 

Click  wheel,  466. 

Plain,  456. 
Reel  with  Patent  Handle,  464. 

Material^:  for,  457. 
Rods,  457,  496. 
Rods,  length  of,  469. 

Position  of  482,  488 

Varieties  of,  467. 

Wood  for,  458. 
Ronald's  Flies,  469. 
Round  Bend  Carlisle  Hooks,  446 

Sailor  Fly,  465. 
Salmon-Bag,  461. 

Book,  462. 

Flies,  471. 

Fishing,  481. 

Haunts  of,  484 

Lines,  465. 

Rods,  457,  482 

Roe,  for  Bait,  400. 


IKDKX  TO   FLT-riBHINO. 


Sand-Fly,  464. 
Sea-Trout,  481. 

Flies,  470. 
Selection  of  Flies,  480. 
Set  of  Hooks  for  a  Kill-Devil,  487. 
Suckers,  492. 
Spare  Rods,  468. 
Spoon,  with  Codfish  Hook,  488. 
Spring  Fishing,  484. 

Snap,  before  Setting,  488. 
Set,  488. 
Staining  Out,  469. 
Stone-Fly,  464. 
Swivels,  498. 

TuROwiNo  Flies,  479,  480. 

Lines,  458,  479. 
Tinsel,  447. 
Trolling,  486. 
Trout-Fishing,  479,  480. 

Flies,  468. 
Trout-Rod,  457. 
Turkey,  Brown,  465. 
Tying-Silks,  447. 

ViOF,  Diagram  at,  447. 

Wbathir,  State  of,  480. 
Whipping,  480. 
Whippy  Rods,  460. 
White  Trout,  481. 
White  Bass,  485. 
Wicker  Pannier,  461. 
Willow-Fly,  477. 
Wren-Tail,  466. 

Yillow-Ddn  Fly,  404. 


M 


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